


Collide

by Harryissuchalittleshit



Series: The Imprint Anthology [7]
Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Consensual Underage Sex, F/M, Foster Care, Little Women refrences, Mentions of Cancer, Recreational Drug Use, Teen Pregnancy, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:47:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 32,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25923862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harryissuchalittleshit/pseuds/Harryissuchalittleshit
Summary: Hailey loves to run, it's the closest she gets to flying.It's just that she has all of these obstacles in front of her. Her foster father, her little foster sister, her cousins, her aunt, even the law. Running isn't as easy as it used to be.But her biggest obstacle, is the one that she doesn't want to let go, can't make herself let go, just trip over.Embry.
Relationships: Connor Clearwater/Carli Call, Embry Call/Hailey Fields, Marcus Black/Lacsey Call, Terra Call/Harry Fuller
Series: The Imprint Anthology [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674550
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There is a mention of rape and abuse, but nothing graphic, nothing described other than the first mention. I could never bring myself to write anything graphic like that.
> 
> That being said, please read and enjoy!

**Collide**

_By Howie Day_

Hailey stared up at the stars.

Bright and beautiful, the stars reminded her of her mother. They reminded her of a better time, of a time when she had felt safe, when her life had been simpler. Of a time before her foster father took away her life, took away everything that she held close.

“Hailey,” whispered Daisy, her little foster sister. Daisy was only six and had been living with them for the last three years, Hailey had been stuck since she was nine. “Happy birthday.”

Hailey looked at the clock and saw that it was after midnight, she had been eighteen for twenty minutes and hadn’t even known it. She stood up and walked over to the bed, pulling out the bag that she had packed up months ago from underneath; she opened it and double checked the contents. The money that she had been steadily collecting was still there, and she counted the crumpled bills twice, before tucking them away and going to the closet.

It was easy to pack Daisy’s bag, Hailey put all of their clothes into her backpack and closed it up before getting her dressed.

“We have to stay quiet,” whispered Hailey as she took Daisy’s hand and carefully cracked open their bedroom door. It was quiet, but that didn’t always mean that it was safe. Hailey slipped out of the room first, leaving their bags just in case and made sure that all the monsters were asleep.

Stephan was asleep on the couch, snoring loudly, it was the only time that he looked at peace. She went back to Daisy and together they padded lightly through the house, walking hand in hand together to the door.

Hailey picked up their shoes and carefully opened the front door, she didn’t want to risk them being in the apartment any longer than they had to be.

“Put your shoes on quickly,” whispered Hailey once they were safely in the stairwell.

Everything would be easier now that they were out of the fire.

“Where are we going?” whispered Daisy as they left the apartment building and started walking to the bus garage. Hailey bit her lip and let Daisy hold her hand. She had a plan, even if it wasn’t a good one, but she had a plan.

“To my Aunt Sue’s,” Hailey told her as they walked quickly through the dark streets. They had a limited timeline, Stephan would wake up soon and start looking for them. He knew that Hailey was turning eighteen, but he didn’t want her, he wanted Daisy.

“Where?” asked Daisy and Hailey shook her head. She would wait for them to be on a bus, to be away from Portland.

“I’ll tell you later,” Hailey told her as the lights of the bus garage appeared around the next corner. Hailey broke out into a run, she needed to get tickets to Olympia, from there, she could get them to Forks, then down to the reservation.

It wasn’t an issue to get herself a bus ticket, but it was a question to get Daisy a ticket. They looked like runaways, with their dirty worn out clothes and stuffed backpacks. Hailey was sure that any second they were going to be pulled aside by security or a police officer and asked where they were going.

She didn’t want to be accused as a kidnapper.

“She’s my half-sister,” whispered Hailey to the teller, “we’re going to visit my cousin, she just had a baby.”

It was all a lie, but she had gotten good at lying over the years.

“Alright,” said the teller, giving Hailey the side eye, as he slide the tickets across the window to her, “have a good trip.”

Hailey took Daisy’s hand and walked through the terminals to find their bus. They boarded quickly and Hailey covered up Daisy with her jacket so she could get warm and sleep. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out her favorite book, _Little Women_ by Louisa May Allcott.

She could hear her heart beat loudly in her ears as the minutes ticked by and the bus slowly filled up, she couldn’t read. She could barely breathe until the bus pulled out of the terminal. Daisy didn’t notice, instead she fell asleep just like Hailey wanted her too, only one of them should’ve been anxious about running away.

~`~

Love is running.

She loves to move, loves to feel the wind on her face. She loves to feel the ground move underneath her feet and to watch the world change in front of her. She loves to go fast, and it’s the closest thing she has to flying.

She loves to run.

~`~

“Em!”

Embry turned his head at the sound of Kim’s voice, out of all the girls that his Pack brothers had imprinted on, he liked Kim best. She was funny and wickedly smart, but also one of the nicest people he had ever met, in fact they had been friendly before Jared had imprinted.

“Hey Kim,” said Embry as she sat down beside him on the front steps of Emily and Sam’s front porch. “Any news on Rose yet?”

“Not that I’ve heard,” said Kim and Embry nodded. He felt horrible for Seth and Leah and Sue, they didn’t deserve to worry about Rose. Harry had just passed a few months ago.

“She’s stronger than this, I’m sure of it,” said Embry, trying to reassure Kim as much as he was himself. He couldn’t stand another funeral, first it had been Connor Ateara, one of his best friends since he could remember, then Harry Clearwater, one of the Tribe Elders had a heart attack, and now Rose was in the hospital after trying to overdose on sleep medication.

He didn’t know what it was about La Push, or possibly the last year, but death seemed to follow them _all_ around.

“No moping about Rose,” said Emily as she came to sit down beside Kim. Embry moved over so Kim could give Emily a bit more room. “Seth just called and said that she’s awake and doing well. Nothing more to worry about for now.”

“How long is she going to be in the hospital?” asked Kim, as she held her own hands in her lap. Embry knew that she did that whenever she wanted Jared to be with her, holding her close. “Or does he not know?”

“It depends,” Emily told them and Embry heard the worry in her voice. “It could be until tomorrow, or a week, the doctors want to run some tests on her and see how she takes to them. She’ll have to go to therapy after this.”

“I mean…if it helps,” said Kim softly, as her knuckles turned white from the strain she was putting on them.

Embry nodded and stood up, he just couldn’t sit and listen to them speculate about Rose. He started walking down the road, away from the small cottage and towards town. He would probably be home in about ten minutes if he let his feet wander for him.

La Push was small, like most of the towns around them. Embry knew everyone who lived here, every corner and nook, every tree and pebble. There were no secrets in La Push, other than the most obvious of them all.

“Embry? Is that you?”

Embry walked through the kitchen and into the living room where his mother was tending to her plants. She owned the only nursery within an hour of Port Angeles, with a greenhouse that she built herself.

The plants that she kept in the house were a different sort, one’s that she sold under the table and that Embry wasn’t allowed to be involved in. But what his mother knew or more actuarially, didn’t know, could fill several books.

The first being that he enjoyed the plants that his mother grew as much as some of her other customers. Second, that Embry, had found out who his father was by reaching out to the man who abandon them. And third, that he was a wolf.

All thanks to his deadbeat father.

“Hey mom,” said Embry, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

His mother smiled and Embry sat down beside her on the floor. His mom didn’t ever sit on the furniture unless they had guests, and only when she felt obligated. She was always the life of the party and the center of attention, something that Embry wished he could be.

Even in the Pack, he was just a foot soldier, one of the masses.

“Any news from the Clearwater’s?”

Embry sighed and told her what Emily had told him and Kim. It was nice to be able to tell his mom the truth, he hated having to keep the secret of his heritage from her, unfair that he was part of a world that she wasn’t allowed to know.

“We’ll just have to hope that she comes home soon,” said Tiffany, and Embry nodded. He liked Rose, and Seth and Leah were good people, even if everyone else gave them shit.

“Yeah,” agreed Embry as he reached out to touch the plant she was tending to. “I’m going to go over to Jake’s, is that okay?”

“Of course, just be home before curfew,” Tiffany told him as Embry got back up to her feet. He leaned down and kissed her cheek again before walking back out the way he came. He let out a sigh the second the door closed behind him. He hated keeping secrets from his mom, she didn’t deserved to be kept in the dark.

Without thinking, he let his feet take him to the beach, he needed to clear his head.

~`~

Love is secrets.

Secrets are always best shared with the ones you love.

Secrets create love.

~`~

Hailey held Daisy in her arms as she walked along the road. The bus had dropped them off at the grocery store in Forks, it was another fifteen miles to La Push, a few hours walk with her carrying Daisy in the rain.

They had just passed the sign telling them they had six miles left when the flashing red and blue lights made her stop.

The one thing she hadn’t wanted to deal with was the police.

“Do you kids need a ride?”

Hailey turned her head to see the police cruiser with the passenger window down. She didn’t want a ride, she honestly just wanted to run, to run as fast as she could with no one to follow her.

“No,” Hailey told the police officer, before she started walking again. She didn’t get more than ten feet away before the sirens started. It was just her luck that she would get picked up by a cop so close to where she needed to be.

It wasn’t that she was worried about herself, it was Daisy who needed out of that house, not her. She couldn’t let Daisy get hurt like she had.

The ride to the hospital was a quick one, but one that Hailey didn’t want to take. She stayed quiet while the police officer questioned her on the drive. She only told him her first name, and Daisy’s middle name, giving him their foster father’s last name, it was what she always did whenever they needed to hide who they were.

“I understand that you don’t want to give me your real name or where you came from, but I’m just following protocol,” said the police officer. Hailey sighed and rolled her eyes, she held Daisy closer to her as a nurse led them into a small exam room.

“Officer Wilks will stand guard at the door while Dr. Cullen checks you over,” said the nurse as Hailey eyed the police officer. “He will watch your bags while you get your physical.”

“Our bags will stay with us,” Hailey told her as she set Daisy down on the exam table. “And we don’t need physicals, we’re fine.”

“That’s not up to you,” said Officer Wilks as he grabbed Hailey’s bag off of her shoulder and held his hand out Daisy’s backpack. “Dr. Cullen is trusted in the community and Chief Swan is coming to question you himself.”

Hailey glared at him and grabbed at her bag again, before Officer Wilks left her and Daisy in the exam room. She climbed up on the exam table and put Daisy’s head on her lap, running her fingers through her hair and rubbing her back.

“Hello,” said the doctor as he walked into the room and quickly closed the door behind him. “How are we today?”

“We’re being held against our will,” Hailey told him as he walked over to a small laptop by the handwashing station. She eyed him as he washed his hands, sanitized the laptop, then turned back to her and Daisy.

“Officer Wilks is just following procedure,” said the doctor, much to Hailey’s annoyance. She looked down at Daisy’s fine blonde hair and ran her fingers through her hair.

Daisy only ‘woke’ up when there was a knock on the door, Hailey had trained her to fake sleeping whenever their foster father would come into their room at night. The very thought of what he would do to her, what he wanted to do to Daisy.

“Chief Swan,” said the doctor as he opened the door, and let the new police officer in. Hailey looked down at Daisy, she knew what could happen to them. They _were_ runaways, they could be sent back to their foster father’s, or even worse they could be separated.

Daisy couldn’t go back.

“Have you started yet, Dr. Cullen?” ask the Chief, and Hailey looked up, unlike Wilks, this voice was familiar. Chief Swan was tall with dark curly hair and dark eyes, he had a kind face, one that Hailey knew she had seen before.

“Charlie,” said Hailey quietly, meeting Chief Swan’s eyes. She remembered summer days with her mother, running up and down the beach, going fishing with her Uncle Harry and his friends, playing with the other kids on the reservation.

“Excuse me,” said Charlie, turning his head to look at her. “How do you know my name?”

“I’m Hailey Field, Evelynn Young’s daughter,” Hailey told him, feeling Daisy’s arms wrap around her.

Charlie’s eyes got wide at the sudden realization of who she was, but then he looked at Daisy who was trying to hide her face behind Hailey’s arm. They couldn’t be separated and they couldn’t go back.

“Dr. Cullen, do you think you can take Miss Elizabeth to the other room, while I ask Hailey a few questions?” asked Charlie, as he glanced at the doctor before looking back at Hailey.

“Yes, of course.”

Hailey squeezed Daisy’s hand and gently nudged her to follow after Dr. Cullen. She would get them out of this, any way that she had to.

“Hailey,” said Charlie, after Daisy and Dr. Cullen left. “What happened here? Who is that girl? Your mother never would’ve wanted to see you like-“

“My mother died of drug overdose ten years ago!” snapped Hailey, not even bothering to let him finish. It wasn’t even his business what her mother would think of her, of anyone anymore. “She left me to take care of myself so she could get high. I’ve been in foster care since, and Daisy is the only good thing to come from it.”

“Daisy?” asked Charlie, and Hailey closed her eyes, she had slipped up.

“I meant Elizabeth.”

She didn’t look up at him, she wanted to be embarrassed, but that was asking more than she could afford of herself. Hailey felt pain in her hands as her fingernails buried themselves into her hands.

“Is Daisy your sister?”

“Foster sister,” corrected Hailey, staring at her jeans, they were old and ratty and the best of what she had. “She can’t go back, not without me at least.”

“And where would that be, Hailey? Where was home?” asked Charlie, and Hailey looked up at him. His eyes were soft, unlike before when he was trying to tell her what she should know about herself.

“Portland.”

“Damn kid,” said Charlie softly, sitting down in the chair that Dr. Cullen had been sitting in. “I can’t do much about this… but if your eighteen, then I can release you with no problem. Daisy on the other hand…well, she’s a little kid and my hands are tied with what I can do with her.”

“She’s six, her father never knew about her, but he lives in Olympia. I looked him up once, and he’s married with a kid, but he could take care of her, the CPS in Portland couldn’t do anything because he lived out of the state and didn’t know about her,” Hailey told him, hoping that he would use this information instead of sending Daisy back.

“I’ll look into it, but for the time being, I know a couple of people that would be willing to take her in,” said Charlie, and for the first time since they got pulled over, she felt her heart grow lighter, fuller. “You’ll be able to visit her at any time too.”

“I just want her to be safe,” said Hailey, because as limited as it sounded, it was the truth. Daisy deserved a little bit of stability, a little bit of love that didn’t come from just her.

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” promised Charlie, as he got to his feet and nodded to Hailey to do the same. He opened the examination room door and gestured for Hailey to go out first. Officer Wilks sat in a chair across from the door, their bags in the chair beside them. “Wilks, your wife willing to take in a six year old girl?”

~`~

Love is surprising.

It takes many different shapes and forms, it changes over time, becoming something new.

Love takes them by surprise. It changes every little thing about them, it allows them to grow. They need to grow.

~`~

Embry stood in the water, the cold felt nice on his shins and ankles and feet. Even though he healed quickly and it was more imaginary than anything, but his legs ached after running for hours as a wolf.

The cold water felt good and refreshing, clearing his brain of all his worries and doubts. He had school tomorrow, the weekends felt too short, forty-eight hours wasn’t enough time anymore.

He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette box and a lighter.

His mom would kill him if she knew that he smoked her supply, marijuana was her best seller. Even the Elders bought from her, though Embry wasn’t supposed to know about that either.

He brought the joint to his lips and lite up, taking in a long pull and holding it in until he couldn’t anymore. Unlike the rest of his Pack brothers, he had figured out how to stay calm quickly after phasing, just with the help of a little smoke.

“Are you going to share that or do I need to buy off your mom?”

Embry rolled his eyes as Sam walked into the surf and stood beside him. He could say a lot of things about Sam, his sense of humor wasn’t much to be admired, there were days when he didn’t understand how Jared got along with him. It probably helped that Emily and Kim were so close.

He handed over the joint and waited for Sam to say something. The news that they were related, found out by Embry going through his mother’s things from before he was born.

It had been a letter from his father, Sam’s father Joshua Uley, explaining that he couldn’t just leave his wife and son for Tiffany, for Embry. It had been hard not to phase and run away like how Jacob always solved his problems, but he had managed somehow to stay human long enough to show Sam the letter.

It had been the first and last time they talked about how they were more than just Pack brothers. Sam had even kept it from Emily, and Embry had kept it quiet from everyone else.

“Do you remember Hailey Field?” asked Sam, as he passed the joint back to her. “Charlie just called and asked if anyone remembered her down here.”

“No,” said Embry, all of his memories from before he phased were a bit fuzzy. He wasn’t sure if he was going crazy or if he just wasn’t remembering everything correctly.

The name Hailey just made him think of a girl who went to the Forks High School, he grew up with kids from Forks constantly coming down to the beach to surf or shop or ask invasive and judgmental questions about their Tribe.

“Just figured I’d ask,” said Sam, and Embry nodded, starting to feel a familiar buzz behind his eyes. He enjoyed the warm hum of smoke in his lungs and the fuzziness of the high in his head. “I didn’t remember her either, neither did Jared or Quil.”

“What about Leah and Seth?”

“Apparently she’s Sue’s niece, or claiming to be,” said Sam as Embry relit the joint. “Charlie just wanted to know if anyone knew who she was before he let her go. She had a little kid with her, they were coming here from Portland.”

Embry nodded and took another pull before passing the joint back to Sam, he didn’t often share his weed, more so because he couldn’t risk getting his mom in trouble. She made plenty of money with her other plants, but that was like grocery money, the pot made up the money to pay their bills and mortgage.

“Portland?” said Embry, rolling his eyes while Sam dropped the stub into the ocean. They both watched as the waves pulled it out farther and farther to sea.

“Yeah, Jared and Kim are heading down to the hospital to pick her up and bring her back here, she’s going to stay with us until Sue can come around tomorrow. They have her on another overnight, I think it’s so she can be around Rose, just in case,” explained Sam, Embry nodded and stepped out of the water. He needed to get home, before his mom worried about him.

“I’ll come around tomorrow afternoon,” Embry told him as he walked towards town, leaving Sam to stand by himself in the icy water. It was October, too late for any swimmers, though they still got a few surfers this time of year.

He would be eighteen in another few days, free to leave and live the life that he wanted, free to track down his father and give him a piece of his mind. Unlike Sam, he didn’t even get the opportunity to miss him, forget him like Sam did.

~`~

Love is forgetting.

Letting the waves crash over and make everything disappear. She likes the feel of the waves, he hates it. The fighting struggle was what made it real, what made it clear.

They forget the bad, and make new memories together.

~`~

Hailey ran along the beach.

It had been so long since she had been able to run like this, since she had been able to feel the wind in her hair, since she had been able to fly.

She had left Sam and Emily’s house in the quiet of the early morning, or as quiet as it could be with Sam’s snoring. She hadn’t been able to sleep, her mind was racing, and the only thing that did make sense was to try and f-

“Ow!” yelled Hailey as she tripped and fell to the ground, she put her hands out to catch her fall and instead felt a pair of arms wrap around her.

“Careful.”

Hailey felt every muscle in her body go still, the arms around her were warm, almost hot, and the voice was slurred. She felt her throat close up and the fear of being back in the apartment come back to her.

“You…okay?” mumbled the guy as he set Hailey on the ground beside him. “You seem scared.”

The second his hands were off of her, Hailey felt herself breath. “I just don’t like people touching me.”

She looked up at her _savior?_ Or, well, the guy she tripped over, he was just lying back in the sand, his dark eyes slightly glazed and bloodshot. It took Hailey a moment to realize that he wasn’t drunk, but stoned. It had been so long since she had the chance to even get something to smoke, let alone _actually_ smoke.

“Oh wow,” he mumbled as he sat up and looked at her. He was tall, even sitting up beside her he had a good six inches on her. His dark hair was shaggy, falling into his dark bloodshot eyes, but he was smiling at her.

And she felt her breath get taken away as he grinned at her.

He was beautiful, _he was beautiful and_ _it wasn’t fair_. She was here to escape her present and find the past that she loved, the good that she needed. She wasn’t here to fall in love, to find a John Brooke to her Meg.

She wasn’t here just to meet him, this boy that she didn’t even know.

But something in her chest pulled to him, every muscle, every nerve, every cell in her body pulled to him. She reached out to him, only to pull her arm back, she didn’t even know his name.

“I’m Embry,” he whispered, his voice soft and calm and light. Hailey nodded, as their eyes locked again, and she knew that she was in trouble.

“Hailey,” she whispered, just as quietly, and he began laughing. It was a warm sound, and Hailey closed her eyes as he fell back into the sand, she didn’t get the joke, but it wasn’t hard to guess. Last night she had reconnected with her cousins Emily, Leah, and Seth for the first time since she was eight. Ten years had passed since she was last in La Push, since she had been with her real family. With her Meg, Jo, and Laurie.

She had slipped through the cracks of the system, having her father’s last name instead of her mother’s. She had always been Beth, disappearing and reappearing throughout everyone else’s lives. She had been named after her father, a man she never had the chance to meet, instead of the woman who raised her.

Until it became too hard.

“I take it that Kim girl told the whole reservation about me?” asked Hailey as she crossed her arms and stared at Embry, not at all impressed with the apparent humor of the situation. “Or are you too high to think straight?”

“Sam told me about you,” said Embry, as he sat up on his elbows and stared at her. Behind him, the sun was starting to rise, casting bright reds and yellows across the sky and ocean. “Or what little Chief Swan told him about you. He’s a bigger gossip than Kim.”

“That sounds about right,” mumbled Hailey as Embry pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. She watched as he pulled out a joint and lit it, taking a drag and holding it out to her.

The smoke filled her lungs and Hailey coughed as she passed the joint back to Embry, who was laughing again.

“Been a while?”

“You could say that.”

The second pull was easier and Hailey felt a buzz behind her eyes as they passed the joint back and forth between them. Everything felt light and comfortable and warm, the chill of the early morning fall air felt nice on her overheated skin. Embry’s lips felt even better.

She didn’t protest as he kissed her, as he pulled her on top of him, threading his fingers into her hair to hold her closer, his other arm wrapped around her waist to keep her on top of him. She pulled away only when he pulled her shirt and bra off. His hands were everywhere, seeming to appear where she wanted them before she could think it herself.

Hailey felt herself blush and giggled with Embry when he pulled her pants down. Her mind spun when she felt him push inside of her, it was different than any other time before, like she was more than just an object to men who were trying to fill a need.

“Embry,” she whispered, as she closed her eyes, letting her body react to him, “Embry…Embry, please?”

The world was righting the wrongs it gave them both.

~`~

Love is unfair.

The world gives, but it also takes, and it takes, and it takes. It’s not easy, it’s not wanted, it is what it is. It’s takes from her, from him, and it gives back even worse.

Life and love have always been one and the same.

~`~

Embry held Hailey’s hand as she led the way back to Sam and Emily’s house. Her hand was warm in his, something that he didn’t know was possible, but the imprint worked in ways that he couldn’t explain, would never be able to explain. The imprint was love in its purest form.

Sam sat on the porch steps, waiting, as they walked together. His dark eyes, the same shade of brown as his own, locked with his first, then moved to Hailey.

It really wasn’t fair.

He didn’t want to imprint, he didn’t want to be stuck here with a girl he didn’t know, but Hailey was…she was different.

And it really wasn’t fair.

“I’m not explaining it to her,” said Sam, as he got to his feet and walked back into his house. Hailey turned to him, she looked confused, and he felt his stomach squirm. How was he supposed to explain it all to her, there was so much that didn’t make sense in the old legends.

“Explain what?” asked Hailey, as she walked up the front steps. Embry sighed as he followed in behind her, Seth and Leah sat at the kitchen table already, while Jared and Kim were in the kitchen helping Emily. Sam sat with Paul, Rachel, Quil, and Jacob in the living room, avoiding looking over at Embry.

“Nothing,” said Embry as he sat down at the table beside her. “I’ll tell you later.”

Now was really not the time to tell her about the whole wolf thing, he liked her, he didn’t want her running away from him screaming. He already got her smoked up and had sex on the beach, she wasn’t a girl to lose.

“Whatever,” said Hailey as she reached for a muffin sitting on a plate, he pulled the plate closer to her and grabbed one for himself. He honestly couldn’t say no to Emily’s blueberry muffin.

“I called the school and you’ll be able to start in a few days,” said Leah, and Hailey nodded, Embry smiled. Hopefully they could get put in the same classes. “Where’s your stuff? We can get you moved in later today.”

“Leah, we have school in twenty minutes,” said Seth, and Embry turned to look at the clock. “We don’t have time to lug a bunch of stuff to our house.”

“I only have one bag, Leah,” said Hailey quietly, and Embry felt his heart break. The world had not loved her as it should’ve. He would talk to his mom, she made all of her own clothes, and most of Embry’s.

“I have some clothes you can have,” said Kim and Embry smiled, Kim always had his back. “If you want to come over after we get out of school you can look through and pick out what you like.”

“Come over to my dad’s after Kim’s and you can take pick of my clothes too,” said Rachel, as she walked over to the table a picked up a muffin for herself. “My sister left a bunch of winter stuff before she left for Hawaii. She won’t miss any of it.”

“Thanks,” said Hailey and Embry got the impression that she was embarrassed by everyone’s want to help her. He couldn’t blame her, being a charity case was not fun and being pitied because of it was even worse.

“Alright, all the high schoolers out,” said Emily, with a wave of her hand. Embry stayed in his seat as his friends, his Pack brothers and Kim and Rachel all left the house, leaving him with Sam, Emily, Leah, and Hailey.

“Don’t you have school?” asked Hailey, turning to look at him, her muffin still sat untouched in front of her.

“Fuck,” said Leah bitterly, and Embry looked up to see her glaring at him. “Can you do anything right Call?”

Embry felt his face grow warm, now this was uncalled for. He did plenty of things wrong in his life, he was a stoner who could turn into a large gray wolf, he was a C- student with no want to go to school, let alone college. He just wanted to spend time with a pretty girl, who seemed just as interested in him as he was in her.

He stood up and left, he knew it was better to stay on Leah’s limited good side than to fight with her. She was Hailey’s cousin, and he could tell that they were close, or had once been close.

Quil and Jacob waited for him at the end of Sam and Emily’s driveway, it was weird that Jacob was with them. He usually spent all of his time with the Cullens, but last he heard, one of them reminded him that he needed to graduate.

“So it happened?” asked Quil, and Embry sighed. He was the last of the three of them to imprint, Quil had Claire and Jacob had Renesmee, at least Hailey wasn’t a little kid.

“Yeah,” said Embry as they started walking towards the high school. He could see Paul and Rachel in front of them, along with Jared and Kim. Rachel wasn’t a student anymore, she taught government in the afternoons and sometimes filled in as a sub.

She was the only teacher that he actually listened to, mostly because she knew him since he was born, and also because he would always be stuck with her. Rachel was Jacob’s older sister and Paul’s girlfriend, if he wanted either of them in his life, Rachel would be a part of it too.

“Leah is going to kill you,” said Jacob, and Embry nodded, that was true. Leah was probably already making plans in her head to ambush him when he got out of school for the day.

“She has other things on her mind right now,” said Quil and all of them nodded as they thought of Rose right now.

Rose was always part of the Pack, at least since Seth and Leah phased, she had watched both of her siblings phase and Harry die. Embry had too, the few of them that had been part of the Pack; Jacob, Sam, Jared, Paul, and himself; had all watched as Harry had the heart attack that killed him, all through Leah’s eyes.

“Rose should come home tomorrow, that’s what Rachel overheard dad saying to Sam,” Jacob told them, “she’ll have to be on constant watch, babysat at all times for the next year or so.”

“That’s…” Embry didn’t even know what to say, he knew that Rose would hate it. She was a social person, always happy and bubbly, but ever since Harry had died, her happiness had died a little bit each day too.

“Just be patient with Leah,” said Quil, offhandedly as they walked up to the high school. “She’s more bark than bite.”

Embry smiled, “yeah, Quil. I can handle her bite, it’s her bark that makes her scary.”

~`~

Love is giving.

It fills all the gaps, fills all the empty spaces, all that is taken away, finds a home. All that is gaping is filled, everything smooths over and becomes perfect again.

Love gives.

~`~

Hailey picked at her muffin, while Leah, Sam, and Emily all sat around her at the table. She loved Leah and Emily and Seth, even if it had been years since she had last seen them, heard from them. They’re mothers were all sisters and while they had grown apart over the years, they had always made an effort to spend the summers together for their kids.

She remembered long summer nights with the windows open, the three of them giggling together in Leah’s bed, instead of sleeping. She remembered chasing after Seth on the beach, always catching him because he was slower than her. She remembered her mom, her Aunt Sue, and her Aunt Cass all sitting together on a porch reminiscing about being teenagers.

Her mother had been the youngest, and Hailey had been born when she was seventeen. Her father had been older, a man who didn’t love them or want them, especially Hailey.

“You can stay here if you want to,” said Emily, and Hailey nodded. She didn’t look like the Emily that she had once known, the scars on her face had changed her into something almost unrecognizable.

“Emily,” said Leah with an annoyed sigh, she also didn’t look like how she remembered her. She had cut her hair short and her face was so much sharper than she had ever known. “Hailey wanted to come stay with us.”

“Leah,” said Emily softly, “Rose is coming home tomorrow, do you really think that bringing Hailey into that-“

“It doesn’t matter,” said Hailey, cutting them both off. She just wanted a home, a place that she was safe, that she didn’t have to live in fear anymore. “You’re both family.”

Her mother had been kicked out when she was eighteen, Hailey had only been a few months old. She had lived with both of her sisters for a short amount of time, before she had started up the routine of moving every six months.

Hailey never once had a real home, other than the few short weeks every summer she was brought to La Push. Even before she could walk, she was on the run.

Back then though, her mother had carried her.

“Well you need to make a decision,” said Sam, and all three of them turned to glare at him. “Come on, Em, Lee, she does. Hailey your welcome here, and your welcome to go, our door is always unlocked. Everyone comes and goes through here anyways.”

Hailey ignored him and turned to Leah, “whose Rose?”

“She my adopted sister,” said Leah, as she nervously twisted her bracelet around her wrist. “She had an accident a few days before you got here.”

“Oh,” said Hailey, looking down at her muffin. She wasn’t even hungry anymore, she was sure that it had been the weed. “Is she okay?”

“She’s coming home tomorrow, but we have plenty of room for you,” said Leah, and Hailey looked up at her. “You can take my room, I share with Rose, but I can take Seth’s room, he doesn’t sleep anyways.”

“It’s okay, don’t give up your room, I don’t sleep either,” Hailey told her, she couldn’t remember the last time she had slept through a whole night, if she ever had.

Leah nodded and shared a look with Emily, while Hailey took a bite of her muffin it was so good. She actually was hungry, and there was no better time to eat than during awkward situations.

“Do you want some breakfast?” asked Emily as she got to her feet and went back to the kitchen. “I can make you some eggs or something.”

“I’m going to take a shower,” said Hailey, getting up and going to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes were red and her hair was messy with sand and a twig stuck in it. She looked homeless, horrible and dirty, in a ratty t-shirt and Emily’s sweatpants.

The steam and hot water felt nice on her body, and did the work of untangling her hair. She heard the twig fall to the tub and smiled as she shampooed her hair. She just wanted to clean, she wanted to be clean and feel good and to see Embry again.

_Embry_.

She wasn’t that girl, she never had time to meet anyone, to date or flirt or kiss, let alone have sex with someone who didn’t…. She opened her eyes and finished washing herself, before stepping out of the shower.

Hailey stared at the clothes Leah or Emily must have put out for her and pulled them on. The dress was soft and warm and a little long, but it was cold outside. She pulled her hair back and went down to the little room that Emily and Sam had set up for her. Leah sat on the bed, Hailey’s bag already packed up for her.

“So what happened with you and Embry?” asked Leah as Hailey sat down beside her.

“He was laying on the beach and I tripped over him,” Hailey told her, grabbing her backpack and looking through it. She just wanted to make sure she had everything she came with.

“We’re you both naked?”

Hailey blushed, this was not what she wanted to tell her cousin who she hadn’t seen in ten years. They weren’t close enough for her to tell Leah all of the dirty details, she wasn’t close enough to anyone.

She had lived a life that no one was meant to be a part of, horrors that no teenage girl wanted to go through, stories that she couldn’t relive or tell anyone.

“It felt like he saw me,” Hailey told her, pushing her bag onto the ground and pulling her legs up into her chest. She looked up at Leah, something that never changed for her. “I know that it’s stupid, but no one has ever treated me that well Lee.”

Leah gently pushed a stray lock of Hailey’s hair out of her face, before wrapping her arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay,” whispered Leah, pulling her close, “I get it, trust me.”

~`~

Love is time.

It grows, it changes, it’s long and slow and more.

It moves through them, not with them.

~`~

Embry kissed Hailey’s stomach as she ran her fingers through his hair. She was absolutely beautiful, her dark blue eyes followed him when he climbed off the floor and walked around the room.

He was in love with those eyes, whether they were clear and bright or sleepy and lusty or even bloodshot and stoned. He loved her eyes.

“That feels nice,” mumbled Hailey as he moved his lips up her body, over her chest and shoulders and neck, until their lips met, soft and warm. “So good.”

Embry tangled his fingers through her hair as his other hand moved down to cup her breast in his hand, he squeezed softly, getting a moan in response. Unlike the first time down on the beach, which was quick and messy, every time after was slow and beautiful and warm.

It was everything that he wanted, that he knew she wanted.

Time seemed to slow down when they were together, it came to a screeching halt the second she came around him. The magnetic connection that they shared, the overwhelming feelings of love and safety and want took over his mind whenever he got as much as a glimpse of her.

Part of him hated that he imprinted, but now that he knew a little bit more about her, he would’ve fallen for her anyways. She was incredibly kind and selfless, just the way she was around Leah and Emily proved it, Leah stopped biting at her and Emily calmed down enough to listen to what Leah was saying.

It was good for the whole Pack, and good for Leah and Emily.

“Embry,” said Hailey softly, her dark eyes were getting clearer the more they made out. He didn’t mind it when she was with him, he never liked coming off of a high. “I should get going.”

Embry sighed and pulled away from her, he pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. She smiled up at him and reached her arms up to wrap them around his neck, holding him close. “Do you have too?” he whispered.

“Seth was with Rose all day and has to go out, it’s my turn,” said Hailey, blinking sleepily up at him.

“Let me walk you home,” said Embry, as he sat up and pulled her up with him. “And get you dressed.”

Hailey giggled and kissed him again, she pulled him closer and climbed into his lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and giggled against his mouth, she felt warm and soft against his body and lips.

Time stood still when they were together.

“Embry! Embry, are you home?!”

Embry pushed Hailey away and threw her shirt at her, before he found his jeans and quickly pulled them on. He was just getting a shirt on when his mom walked into his bedroom. She looked from him to Hailey, then sighed.

“Embry, who is this?”

Embry looked at Hailey, she was standing next to him in one of Kim’s old t-shirts and Rachel’s jeans. She was dressed, but her shirt was a little short as Hailey was taller than Kim, and her jeans ripped and dirty as that was how Rachel treated all of her jeans, she looked cute to Embry, but his mom wasn’t a fan of ill-fitting clothes.

“I’m Hailey,” she said quietly, looking right at his mother. “It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Call.”

“It’s Ms. Call,” said Tiffany, crossing her arms and stepping forward into Embry’s room. “But you can call me Tiffany.”

Embry felt his shoulders relax, his mom didn’t let anyone call her by her first name unless she liked them. Hailey nodded and Embry smiled, already he could tell that his mom would end up loving Hailey like he did.

“I was just going to take Hailey home, mom,” Embry told her as he took Hailey’s hand and pulled her towards the door. “She needs to be with her cousin.”

“I forgot the Clearwaters had family in town,” said Tiffany as Embry slowly pulled Hailey towards the door. “Tell Sue that if she needs anything I’m always willing to help.”

“I will,” said Hailey, before she walked out of Embry’s room and pulled him along with her. They walked out of the house and the second the door closed, Hailey burst out laughing. “I hope your mom doesn’t think I’m crazy.”

Embry smiled and leaned down, kissing Hailey in the middle of the driveway. He held her in his arms, suddenly aware that his mom was probably watching them from the kitchen window. He didn’t care, Hailey was the only thing that mattered right now.

She made the world stop moving, and made the haziness in his head disappear.

“Embry,” said Hailey, putting her hands on his chest and pushing him away. “I need to get home.”

“I don’t want you to leave,” Embry told her, pressing his forehead to hers. He didn’t know how this worked, or why it was like this, or why they fell so far into each other.

“Then come with me,” said Hailey, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. “Leah and Seth are out somewhere, Aunt Sue is in Forks, and Rose won’t mind, she doesn’t care about anything right now. It’ll just be us, we can watch TV and you can help me make dinner.”

Embry smiled and took her hand, leading her away from his house, and towards hers.

~`~

Love is fast.

Falling quickly, heart pounding, amazing and fast and overconsuming. She likes speed, he likes watching her. It takes a spark to become a fire, they were fire within moments of meeting.

~`~

Hailey ran along the beach.

Every morning and every night she ran along the beach. Sometimes, she was joined by Rachel, and by Leah about once a week. Kim wasn’t much of a runner, neither was Emily, but they didn’t mind when she joined them for breakfast.

After her morning run, she came home and took a shower and got dressed. She ate breakfast with Seth and Leah and Rose, either at home if Aunt Sue was there or at Emily and Sam’s on the other days.

Somedays, Embry even joined them.

On days that they had school, she and Seth left Rose with Leah and walked the two miles down the road to the high school. Hailey liked school, at least she liked learning and spending time with Embry. They had four classes together and lunch, they got hours upon hours of time together, and even when the final bell went off they managed to find more time together.

Afternoons were spent with just the pair of them. Usually they ended up in Embry’s bedroom, together on the floor, smoking and telling stories and laughing. Embry had the best laugh, warm and soft and filling the room.

They were quieter at her house, Rose slept and moped and slumped around the house. Embry and Hailey could only do so much together with her sharing a room with Rose.

But running made up for it, every little thing that made her sad or angry, every little thing that seemed unfair or selfish, she left behind on the beach. The sand moved under her feet as she ran and the world slowed as she moved forward.

It was just how she liked it.

She ran to forget her mother, her drugs and her death; she ran to forget the group homes, the constant moving and the girls who hated her because of her skin color; and she ran to forget her foster father, the abuse and the constant fear for her life. She loved to run, loved to move forward, loved to watch the world blur past her eyes.

“Woah there,” said Embry, catching her as she tripped over him. It seemed that this was how they always met each other on the beach, she just never saw him lying in the sand. “Watch out Hay.”

Hailey smiled and kissed him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She ran her fingers through his short shaggy hair and held his face in her hands. She knew that it was dumb and a little obsessive, but she loved his face, his dark friendly eyes and his high cheekbones and his pointy chin. He was a beautiful, all of him was beautiful, but she loved his face most.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be just lying on the ground Em,” Hailey told him as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. “Where anyone can trip over you.”

“You are the only person in the world who doesn’t pay attention to the ground while running,” said Embry and Hailey rolled her eyes.

“I’m looking forward, not down,” Hailey told him, running her fingers through his hair again, she didn’t like how short it was, but it was so soft under her touch.

“You’ve been here for four months,” said Embry, moving his hand under her shirt. “Shouldn’t you take the chance to look down once in a while? You’re safe with me.”

Hailey smiled and shook her head, habits were hard to break, she couldn’t let her guard down even if she wanted too. Daisy was having the same trouble, even in her new home in Olympia with her new foster parents. They called each other every Monday and Thursday, Daisy told her about her week, about her new family and the other kids in her class, all the good things; but she also told her about the bad things, how she was made fun of by her classmates for being a foster kid and how the bus driver always yelled at her when she pulled the chord to her stop.

If Daisy couldn’t break her habits, then Hailey was much worst off.

“I know,” said Hailey, pushing his hands off of her and getting to her feet. Embry followed, “but I can’t let everything go Embry.”

Hailey took his hands in her own as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. She loved the warmth that he radiated, the love that washed over her, and the feeling she always got in the pit of her stomach whenever he was around her.

“I’ll always keep you safe,” whispered Embry as he kissed her face, her cheeks and jaw and lips. “I promise as long as I live, I’ll keep you safe Hailey.”

Hailey smiled and pushed his face away from hers, she loved how affection he was, and how he promised her the world, but she knew they wouldn’t always be forever. “You can’t promise that, Embry. We don’t know what will happen to us.”

Embry smiled and laughed, as if he did know how they would end up, as if he could see them married with children. He couldn’t know, especially if she didn’t know.

“I love you Hailey,” whispered Embry, leaning down and kissing her forehead again. “You don’t have to say it back, bu-“

“I love you too, Embry,” Hailey told him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. She only pulled away to giggle when he lifted her off the ground and spun her around in his arms. The beach blurred pass them and Hailey smiled, she really did love him.

~`~

Love is honesty.

Secrets are shared between two; two friends, two lovers, two enemies. They are not friends, they are not enemies, they are not lovers.

Soulmates is the hard truth. Love is easy, but forever is hard. Forever is not what she knows.

Neither of them know how to tell the truth.

~`~

Embry rolled over in bed and pulled Hailey’s body against his chest. He kissed her shoulder softly before tucking his face into her hair and breathing in her scent. She was perfect for him, which was what the imprint was…at least in the beginning it was just the imprint.

Now… now it was just Hailey, he was in love with her because she was everything that he wanted. She made him feel calm better than the weed, she made him fall back to Earth.

He had never felt this way about anyone.

“Hailey,” he whispered, as she pulled her legs into her chest and squeezed her eyes shut tight. He knew what this meant, he could recognize her nightmares, the secrets that she couldn’t hide from herself. “Hailey wake up.”

He rubbed her back and shoulders, watching as she opened her eyes slowly. She looked up at him with teary eyes and he held her close to him as she started crying against his chest. He kissed her forehead and rubbed her back with his knuckles, digging in with every knot he found.

“It’s okay,” Embry told her over and over again as she cried. “I love you, I’m here now.”

She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and he pressed his forehead to hers. “It’s okay, baby, no one will hurt you with me around.”

Her lips quirked up in a small smile, but fell even quicker. “I-I’m fine. It…it was just a bad dream.”

“I know,” Embry told her, his hand still moving along her back. He found her mouth and kissed her softly, closing his eyes as her hands moved into his hair.

Only four months had passed since she showed up in his life, tripping over him in the sand and falling into his arms. She had told him that she loved him, had kissed him and had sex with him, she loved him. She loved him and wanted him and he felt the same, he loved her and wanted her more than the sun, than the Earth below him.

“Embry,” whispered Hailey, as she sat on his hips, her dark hair framing her face and draping over her body. “He used to hit me.”

He knew this, he knew the second he saw the scars on her back. Someone had hurt her, changed her for the worst and taken away her love and joy. Someone had caused her harm that he couldn’t save her from.

“Hailey n-“

“I would hide Daisy in the closest because he would rape me.”

He didn’t know how she could say this with a straight face, how she could bare her soul to him. She was braver than him, more than he could ever be.

“Hailey, please don-“

“I can’t sleep because of it Embry,” whispered Hailey, wiping at her eyes and climbing off of him. “I always have the same nightmares…every time Embry.”

He stared at her, she didn’t deserve this pain, this hurt.

“Can I show you why no one will hurt you with me around?” Embry asked her, they were going to have a bonfire next weekend, now that the Volturi were gone. She would hear their stories soon, but she needed to see him before the bonfire. “Why I won’t let anyone hurt you?”

Hailey reached out and touched his arm before giving him a smile, a real smile. The pain that had been there moments before, the fear and sadness, was gone. Embry felt his heart grow warm, she had no idea what she was in for.

“Get dressed,” he told her, as he climbed out of bed. He loved this about her, she went from sad to giggling in moments, heavy to light, standing to running.

“Embry,” she said, as he led her outside and into the forest close to his house. She was about to see something that not even his mother had seen. “What are we doing?”

Embry stepped forward and kissed her forehead, “I love you, and just don’t be afraid.”

It was too much to ask, he knew that it was too much to ask, but he should’ve known better. Hailey didn’t say anything when he pulled off his shorts and boxers, nor when he fell forward on all fours. She didn’t move when he stood taller than her once again, this time in his other form.

He didn’t mind being a wolf, he knew it was a curse, but this wasn’t that bad. Hailey stared at him with her knowing eyes and only reached forward when he stepped forward. He closed his eyes at the feel of her hand in his fur, pushing forward and petting him.

“I found Seth one morning on the beach,” said Hailey as Embry blinked at her, nuzzling his nose against her hand. “He was this big sand colored fur ball, and then he was himself. I know that I don’t pay that much attention while running, but that’s something that you don’t just not notice.”

Embry blinked again and Hailey took this as the incentive to go on.

“I’m not afraid because I know you’ll never hurt me Em,” whispered Hailey, pressing her face into his fur. “I meant it when I said that I love you. You love me, enough to show me this side of you, and I know that means a lot for you.”

Embry phased back into himself and kissed Hailey. This girl was honestly going to be the death of him.

~`~

Love is family.

The family you’re born into, the family you make, and the family that grows with you.

She has a new family, a forever family, he has a family that grows with him.

~`~

Hailey breathed in a deep breath as she sat on the bathroom floor. Leah and Rose sat in the bathtub together, both fully clothed, Rose looked bored and tired, Leah annoyed. Seth stood in the doorway, the gatekeeper. Embry sat on the floor beside her, not touching her as they waited.

Emily sat on the counter, resting her head on Sam’s shoulder as they waited for the alarm to go off.

“It’s negative,” said Emily after the alarm went off. “Again.”

Hailey closed her eyes and leaned her head on Embry’s shoulder, snaking her arm through his to lace their fingers together.

“Emily,” said Sam softly, but Emily climbed off of the countertop and pushed pass Seth. Just a few months ago, they had all been getting ready in this room for Emily and Sam to pledge themselves to each other.

Now Emily wanted a baby.

“It’ll be okay,” said Leah, climbing out of the bathtub and pulling Rose out with her. Slowly they all started to leave the bathroom, they were only over because for some reason they all came over for lunch and found Sam and Emily in the bathroom. “It’ll work next time Sam.”

Hailey had been ready for Leah to be smug, or even rude, ever since she had heard the story of the Sam/Leah/Emily triangle, she had been ready to see Leah be mean to Emily and Sam. It never came though, instead, Hailey watched her be the only calm and rational one of the three of them.

Hailey waited as her cousins left, leaving her with Sam and Embry. The two of them were so awkward around each other, mostly because they never talked about what they needed to get off their chests.

“Isn’t it a little too soon?” asked Embry, and Hailey stood up as Sam turned to glare at him. “You just got married.”

She slipped out of the bathroom, leaving Sam and Embry behind, and found everyone sitting on the floor with Emily. She sat down on the floor and pulled Emily’s head into her lap and ran her fingers through her hair.

Hailey did agree with Embry, she had been born to a young mother, had watched her struggle and fought to do things right and failed. But she knew that Sam and Emily were already doing better than her mother, they were older, they were married, and they were in love. Emily was always Meg, and Sam was her John Brooke.

Hailey knew that they would be better than her mother, she had been the result of a one night stand, her mother had slept with a guy in a moment of lust, and she never told him about Hailey. Emily was better than that, and so was Sam.

“It will happen when you’re ready,” Hailey told Emily as she stroked her hair, over and over again. “I promise Emily.”

Seth was the only one to look up at the sound of raised voices and yelling coming for the bathroom. Rose was asleep curled up with her head on Emily’s stomach, and Leah had her head on Emily’s chest, holding her close.

“I know,” whispered Emily, wiping at her eyes. “I just wanted it now.”

Hailey nodded and kept running her fingers through Emily’s hair, siblings and cousins were still new to her. She was still learning what it meant to find a home with Emily, with Seth and Rose, and even with Leah. But now she was slowly building a home, a family with the people she always belonged too.

She was meeting her Meg, Jo, Laurie, and Amy.

“I finally figured out what I’m going to do when I graduate Em,” Hailey told her, hoping to distract her from her own disappointment. She felt Seth turn to look at her, and watched as Leah opened her eyes slowly to look up at her. “I’m going to become a social worker and help kids in bad situations like how I was the last few years.”

Emily reached up and put her hand on Hailey’s wrist, stopping her hand. “That sounds perfect for you Hailey.”

It had been something that she had been thinking about for a long time. If she had someone to listen to her when she was Daisy’s age, her life would’ve been a lot different. Everything would’ve been a lot different.

“That’s kind of what I thought,” said Hailey, as Emily let go of her wrist. “No one deserves to slip through the cracks.”

“You should’ve never slipped through the cracks,” whispered Rose, not opening her eyes. “I didn’t, so you shouldn’t have.”

Hailey smiled and turned her head when she saw Embry and Sam walk out of the bathroom, both of them looking annoyed. Embry came and sat down beside Hailey on the floor, while Sam stood tall over them.

She was getting used to Sam lording over them, it was almost comforting now, knowing that he was always around, always watching out for them. He was becoming more and more of a comforting presence.

He was becoming family, plain and simple.

Hailey lean back into Embry’s chest and relaxed, she was slowly figuring out how to do this, how to be a part of this family. Her wolf boyfriend, her wildly crazy cousins, and Sam, whatever he was supposed to be.

They were her protectors, and she was one of theirs.

~`~

Love is celebrations.

Celebrations of life, of joy, of friends and family.

Celebrations of love, of Hailey, of Embry.

~`~

Embry stared up at Hailey from the sand, it was late, the moon and stars were bouncing off of their skin, pinpricks of silvery light. She was beautiful, bright and luminescent, her long curly hair flowing down her shoulders and back, her bright blue eyes glowing, her body soft and warm moving over him.

“Em,” she panted as he thrusted up into her, “Embry please…please?”

Embry grabbed her face and pulled it down to his, before rolling them over and taking control. Hailey relaxed into the sand and Embry moaned as he pushed forward into her. He felt every nerve, every muscle, every cell in his body come undone as she kissed him.

_I love you, I love you, I love you._

He fell onto the sand beside her and pulled her into his arms. The sand was gritty and sticking to his back and hair and her skin.

They would have to take a shower or hope for rain before they made it back to his mom’s house. His mother hated it when he tracked sand through the house.

“What happens next Embry?”

He opened his eyes and stared at her, Hailey was beautiful and sweet and had the worst of the world thrown at her. He didn’t want to be part of the worst of the world.

“I don’t know,” Embry told her, as she pushed her hair out of her face and looked up at him. “I still can’t believe that Kim and Jared got married today, but they’ve been together for the last two years…is that what you want?”

“Not right now,” said Hailey, lacing her fingers through his and dragging his arm over her chest. It was June, but there was still a slight chill in the air. He held her closer, putting his face into her hair. “I finally feel like I’m having fun.”

“We’re we not having fun before?” Embry asked her, as he brushed his fingers along her jaw and made her look up at him. “We’re you not happy before now?”

“I’m still scared that this is going to fall apart, Embry,” said Hailey, pushing his hand away and rolling over in the sand. Embry sighed and reached out to her, running his fingers along her spine. “I’ve spent so long being afraid, so long waiting for everything to fall apart or to get worst, that now that everything is perfect-“

“You think we’re perfect?” asked Embry, smiling down at her. He could feel his own heart beating out of his chest, this lightness, this happiness was almost overwhelming.

“Embry, I love you,” whispered Hailey, leaning forward to kiss him. “I want this to be perfect, for us to be safe and happy and together.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Embry told her, as he crawled along the sand to her, she fit so right in his arms, with her head on his chest, and her body pressed up against his. “We’ll make everything work, we’ll figure it out as we go.”

“I got accepted into the University of Washington Embry,” said Hailey, not meeting his eyes. “I need to move to Seattle, you can’t leave your life here for me.”

“Hailey,” said Embry slowly, tilting her chin up to make her look at him. “I promise that it’ll work out, even if you have to move to Seattle and I have to stay here. I promise that we won’t change even if it feels like everything else has.”

He smiled as she kissed him, her lips warm and soft against his own. Less than twelve hours ago, they had graduated from high school, they had let go of everything that they knew to move forward in their lives.

Embry knew that everything was going to change, he could feel it as he sat sandwiched between Jacob, who was a runner, and Jared, who was a dreamer. Quil sat on Jacob’s other side, another dreamer, a lover, and Kim sat beside Jared, another runner, but also a lover.

Kim ran headfirst into a dream, into Jared’s arms and a marriage. Quil was daydreaming of Claire, a sweet girl who knew nothing of them. Jacob was hours away from disappearing.

They were his family, his Pack brothers, and a sister that he always wanted. They were family, given to him by his birthright, one that he didn’t truly deserve.

Hailey had sat at the end of their row, out of arms reach, away from him. She wasn’t a dreamer or a runner, she was like the rest of the Pack, she was a rock, like Leah and Seth and Emily, she was stubborn and smart and destined for more.

She was more than him.

“Let me propose a toast,” said Embry, sitting up and pulling Hailey with him, she settled herself into his lap and wrapped an arm around his neck to keep herself steady. He reached behind him for his backpack, pushing pass the box of condoms and the baggy of rolled joints, and pulling out a couple of beers that he knew Sam had put in there.

“To what?” asked Hailey, as she took one of the warm beers from him and popped the top of the can.

“To us Hailey,” he told her, as she rolled her eyes. “To graduating from high school and figuring out the rest of our lives, and to being in love. I love you more than anything else in this world.”

“Congratulations to us then,” said Hailey, tapping her can against his own, before tipping her head back and drinking the whole can.

Embry followed suit and threw their cans behind them before throwing her down on the sand and climbing on top of her.

~`~

Love is small promises.

It’s a lot of small things, but the promises are the most important. They connect one thing to another, they connect her to him and him to her.

They grow, they change, and they love each other.

It’s not a small promise.

~`~

“Embry,” whispered Hailey as she ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his jaw. “Embry wake up.”

She smiled as he slowly opened his eyes, someday they would have children with his eyes, and that was what she wanted more than anything. She was ready for more, ready for them to do more together, ready for them to be truly together.

“Embry,” whispered Hailey, leaning over to kiss him, she felt his lips turn up into a smile against her own and she started giggling. She loved him, there was nothing more to it.

“Hailey,” whispered Embry, blinking slowly as she laid on her stomach beside him. “It’s so early.”

He had ran all the way from La Push to Seattle to surprise her for the night. She had been so happy to see him, even if he had to leave early for work in the morning.

“I know babe,” said Hailey softly, running her hand along his jaw and down his chest. “But you have work in two hours and it’ll take you about an hour to run back.”

“So I can sleep for another hour,” said Embry closing his eyes, Hailey rolled her eyes and sat up, letting the blanket fall off her bare shoulders. She stared at his face; so calm and relaxed as he slept.

But she had to tell him about the job, about the opportunity she had to help people like her; that once were her.

“Embry,” said Hailey, putting a hand on his shoulder and resting her chin on his chest. He barely opened his eyes, and Hailey felt her heart drop. “I’ve been asked to go to Washington.”

“We live in Washington Hailey.”

“Washington D.C.” Hailey told him, reaching up and flicking his ear as he closed his eyes again. “It’s for six months, or until they get the new foster bill put through.”

Embry opened his eyes and slowly sat up, forcing Hailey off of him. She climbed into his lap and looked up at him, she was supposed to move back to La Push in a few days, right after graduation, right after her lease was up.

“When do you leave?” asked Embry, pushing her hair out of her face and over her shoulder.

Hailey sighed and tucked her head into his shoulder, “the day after graduation, they’re providing airfare and transportation and room and board. The only thing I’ll need to worry about is breakfast most days.”

She pulled her face out of his shoulder and looked up at him, but he was just smiling at her.

“Hailey you’ll be great,” whispered Embry, taking her chin in his hand and making her meet his eyes. “I’m so proud of you. To be asked to go to Washington D.C. to get a bill passed, that’s amazing.”

Hailey smiled and leaned forward, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She loved him, she loved him and loved him and wanted to do this right.

“Embry,” whispered Hailey, pulling away just enough to look up at him. “Let’s get married, let’s do this right.”

“You ruin everything,” said Embry, pushing her down into the blankets and climbing out of bed. “I had this big plan for graduation, I was going to get down on one knee, and I was going to do it in front of everyone just to make you blush. It was going to be a big production, I was even going to have Leah play with my hair.”

Hailey followed him around the room as he pulled on his boxers and started rummaging through the set of drawers, or well, the one he used when he stayed longer than a night. “Em-“

“I had a reservation at this stupid fancy restaurant for after, and-“ he pulled a small black box out of the drawer and turned around to go down on one knee in front of the bed. Hailey rolled over and watched him with a smile, she always thought that it was funny when he narrated everything when he was annoyed. “Hailey I had a whole big plan for this, for us.”

Hailey reached out and touched his cheek, lightly running her fingers over the stubble there. She held his chin and waited for him to say what he wanted.

“Hailey,” he said softly, taking her hand off of his face and holding it. “I love you, have since we first met. You are everything to me, and I would make you so happy. Will you please marry me?”

Hailey nodded and reached forward to pluck the ring box out of his hands. “Of course I’ll marry you, Embry.” She opened the little box and smiled, it was nothing over the top, a simple gold band with three inset diamonds. She never wanted anything crazy, and he knew that. They were saving money for more important things anyways.

“So when should we do this?” asked Embry and Hailey leaned forward to kiss him, the ring now on her fourth finger.

“How angry would Jacob be if you called off from work today?” asked Hailey as she climbed off the bed and walked to the tiny box of a closet. She pulled out the little white sundress that she had watched her friends get married in. She didn’t need anything special, none of them did.

“Hailey, are you sure?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

~`~

Love is unexpected.

Surprises and promises, laughter and tears, the big and small moments. Love is made up of many little things, including the most unexpected moments.

~`~

Embry stared at little beeping box.

He knew that his mother was getting worse, sicker and sicker with each passing day. She was trying to hide it, trying to keep it hidden from him, from everyone.

Cancer was an ugly disease, it took everything from a person. It took her energy first, then her mobility, then her beauty. His mother didn’t deserve it, she deserved to live a full life as she had, as she was.

“Embry, go home, I’m fine here on my own,” said Tiffany, pushing his hand off of her bed rail. “You have a plane to catch in the morning.”

“I told you already, mom,” said Embry, pulling his hand back, “Hailey told me to stay with you, she canceled the ticket for me.”

Tiffany sighed and rolled her eyes at him, waving her hand. “Go to her Embry, she loves you and wants to be with you. I will be fine if you’re gone for a weekend.”

“Mom,” said Embry annoyed, sitting back in his chair. She had no idea how much it hurt for him to be away from Hailey, the imprint made the pull he felt towards her impossible for them to be apart. Having her away in Seattle had been a challenge, having her away in D.C. was next to impossible. “You’re more important right now.”

“Embry Marcus Call,” said Tiffany, giving him a look that he had become more than familiar with since he started phasing. “Your wife loves you, she misses you, and you miss her. The two of you need each other. I will be fine by myself for a weekend.”

“You don’t need to be alone.”

Embry looked up and met Hailey’s eyes, they had video chatted and called each other at least twice a day, but it was nothing to seeing her in person. Her long curly hair was pulled back out of her face, her dark blue eyes tired and sleepy, and…Embry felt his heart drop.

She was pregnant.

Six months ago they got married, six long and incredibly hard months without her next to him. But if she was changing the world, even just a little, in the right direction, then it was worth it. The fight she was putting up against the rest of the world was worth it to him, to both of them.

“Hailey,” said Embry, jumping up out of his seat and rushing to her side. He took her bags and set them on the floor by the door and wrapped his arms around her.

She was home, she was home with him, finally.

“You were supposed to come out four months ago,” whispered Hailey as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. “I had this whole plan to tell you, my roommate Cece was even going to give us the room for the night.”

“I know,” said Embry pulling away from her enough to put a hand on her stomach. “When are you due? Are we having a boy or a girl? What are we-“

“Embry,” said Tiffany, and Embry turned his head to look at her, she had asked Embry to pick up as much pink yarn as he could a few days after she been admitted to the hospital. He had told her she was knitting things for all of the new babies on the reservation, he hadn’t realized it was for him. “It’s a girl.”

“Really?” Embry asked, turning back to Hailey, she nodded up at him. Embry wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, spinning her around in his arms. “Hailey this is amazing!”

Hailey smiled and walked away from him, sitting down in the chair that Embry had been sitting in. She looked exhausted, which he couldn’t blame her, packing up all of her things and jumping on a plane to come back home, to come see him.

“Come here sweetheart,” said Tiffany, moving over in her bed for Hailey to climb in with her. Hailey tucked herself around her and closed her eyes, Embry walked over to the chair he had been sitting in before and sat down.

Everything would be better now, Hailey was home.

~`~

Love is Terra.

Sweet and innocent, quiet and small, beautiful and perfect.

~`~

Hailey opened her eyes slowly.

She was so tired, so so tired. Fourteen hours of labor, after being up for twelve hours, made for a long unending day. But Terra was here, she was here and she was beautiful and she was all hers…and Embry’s.

“Hey,” whispered Embry, pushing her hair out of her face. “This is a change for once.”

She always woke up before him, if she could manage to fall asleep in the first place. Unlike Seth, her insomnia didn’t come and go with how stressed she was, instead it just got worst.

“You didn’t push a baby out of you,” Hailey told him, as she slowly sat up. “I’m exhausted Em.”

“You’ve slept for the last six hours,” said Embry, and Hailey sighed, that’s the longest she had slept in the last few months. “My mom has come through twice to see baby Tea.”

“Terra Evelynn Call,” whispered Hailey, kissing Embry’s cheek before he climbed out of bed and went over to the bassinet.

Hailey took Terra from him and held her against her chest, she had her eyes. Bright and blue and beautiful, it was what she hoped that their children would get from her. Embry climbed back into bed with her and Terra and rested his head on her stomach.

Hailey ran her fingers through Embry’s short hair and closed her eyes again, she was so tired. Having a baby was more than she expected, when she found out that she was pregnant, that had been more than she expected. Having sex in the back of Embry’s car in the airport hadn’t been expected either, but it brought them Terra.

“What are we going to do?” whispered Hailey, opening her eyes to look down at Terra in her arm. “I just started working and you have the garage. Jacob and Leah just had Mark and Kenzie, and Quil has been comatose for the last few months since Claire left.”

“We can only do this one day at a time Hailey,” said Embry, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Jacob and I have been making plans over the last few weeks for when we had Terra. I’m going to be working part time for the next few weeks while you get settled into a routine. Mom is starting to get better, or at least she said she’s getting her strength back, and she wants to help with Terra too.”

Hailey nodded and kept her hand on Embry’s head, playing with his hair, her mind was going a million miles an hour. They were so unprepared for having a baby, they had just barely got the nursery together before she went into labor. They had forgotten to sign up for any breathing classes or birthing classes, and Hailey had been late or missed several of her doctor’s appointments.

She had fucked up in waiting to tell Embry that they were having a baby.

“This is all my fault,” she said, as she pulled her hand back up to her chest. “I didn’t take this as seriously as I should have.”

“Hailey,” said Embry, turning and resting his chin on her stomach as he looked up at her. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I slept through my last doctor’s appointment Embry,” she told him, putting a hand on his cheek. “We never went to any of the classes, we barely got the nursery set up, and I know you and Jacob talked, but what are we really going to do?”

Embry smiled up at her and Hailey sighed. “We took the fostering classes Hailey, shouldn’t that be enough?”

“We’re twenty years old Em, too young to have a baby,” Hailey told him, just as Terra let out a small yelp.

They both looked at her, she was reaching her arms out to them, her blue eyes blinking up at the pair of them. They didn’t have a choice to try and make this work, they just had too.

“If I’m better than my dad,” said Embry softly, taking one of Terra’s little hands in his own, “and you’re better than your mom, then I think we got this covered.”

Hailey nodded and leaned down to kiss Terra’s forehead, then Embry’s lips. She loved him, but more than anything, she loved Terra, she was her baby, her daughter.

~`~

Love is hard work.

It’s a tiring and long fought process, it’s late nights and early mornings, it’s stress and children and fighting. It’s hard, plain and simple, hard work well fought for.

~`~

Embry pushed himself out from under Emily’s car and stood up, wiping his hands on a dirty rag. He felt like he was just going through the motions, he was tired from late nights with Terra and early morning patrols. He needed to stop phasing, needed to put his foot down before he collapsed from exhaustion.

“It’s shot,” Embry told Sam, as he closed the hood. “I can make Jake look at it, but you mind as well start looking for a new car. You can sell it to us for parts, but Quil’s off for the next few days.”

Sam sighed and crossed his arms in annoyance. Embry understood, a new car was a big expense, for anyone, and Sam and Emily just had a second kid. “Are you sure? Is there nothing that you can do?”

“I’ll have Jake check it out,” Embry told him, as he pulled the keys out of the starter, “but he’ll say the same thing that I did. If it was worth it, I would tell you what we could do, but you mind as well get a new car.”

“Damn it,” muttered Sam under his breath, “Emily’s going to be pissed, as if her hormones haven’t been crazy lately.”

Embry nodded, not that he really knew about this, he and Hailey had been struggling since they had Terra. Hailey had been right that they weren’t ready to be parents, she was so busy with her own work, that she seemed to hardly have time for Terra, let alone Embry.

And Embry missed her, it was worse than when she was in school, or D.C.

Embry walked Sam out of the garage before locking up the doors and heading to his mom’s house.

“Hey Tea,” said Embry as he walked around the back of the house and found his mom and Terra in the garden. His mom had her greenhouse, but she also had her actual garden that she planted shortly after Terra was born. “Were you good for your nana today?”

Terra walked up to him and gave him a toothy grin, she was sixteen months old already and still growing and changing every day, every minute. It was amazing to watch her become more and more of the human she was meant to be each day.

“She was a good baby like always,” said Tiffany as Embry leaned down and kissed her cheek.

He stood up and swung Terra up into his arms, before he blew a raspberry into her neck. Getting a loud giggle out of her; this was what made it all worth it, Terra happy made everything better.

“Sit down Embry,” said Tiffany, patting the blanket beside her, Embry smiled down at her.

“I can’t,” he told her, putting Terra up on his shoulders. “I need to get home and start dinner.”

“Embry,” said Tiffany with a sigh as she got to her feet, “what’s going on? I haven’t seen Hailey in weeks, she hasn’t come to get Tea, or dropped her off in the morning. Is everything okay with the two of you?”

Embry sighed and ducked his head, he had three girls in his life that controlled everything, his mother, his wife, and his daughter. They were the three most important people in his life and he was happy to have his life controlled by them.

“She’s been busy with work, she’s been having to run up and down to Seattle every week, and three of her last few cases have been relocated without her knowledge,” Embry told his mom, watching as her face fell. “And…and after having Terra, some things have changed for us. I think we just had her too early.”

Tiffany nodded, and Embry wanted nothing more than fall into her arms and let her comfort him, but it was too late. Terra was sixteen months old, Hailey was in Seattle, and he was stuck in La Push.

“I had a very hard time bouncing back from having you, Embry,” said Tiffany, reaching out her hand and squeezing Embry’s. “It takes time, I promise that she loves you, that she loves my Tea girl.”

Embry smiled and leaned down to kiss his mother’s cheek again before turning on his heel and heading home.

He walked along the beach as he did every day, Terra loved the water and the wind, she was just like Hailey in that way. She was just like Hailey in every way, from her personality to her appearance to her mannerisms.

He unlocked the door and walked in with Terra curled up in his arms. He walked into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks, Hailey sat at the table, two large boxes beside her. Her face was red and blotchy, her eyes rimmed red and her mouth twisted in a frown.

“I got fired Em,” she said, looking up at him, and wiping at her eyes. “It’s why my kids got moved out from underneath me.”

Embry crossed the kitchen and fell into the seat beside Hailey, she reached out for Terra and pulled her into her arms, cradling her into her chest. “I’m sorry Hailey,” whispered Embry, reaching out his hand and putting it on her knee. “I know how much you loved this job.”

“A week ago I told Avery that I needed some time with you and Terra, and to cut back on my hours for just a day or two, and he called me into the office in Seattle to fire me,” said Hailey, springing a fresh wave of tears.

“Is there anything I can do?” asked Embry, he felt just as hopeless as she looked, this wasn’t fair to her, to them. Hailey had given everything to her job, but now it was over.

“I…” said Hailey, looking down at Terra in her arms. “I don’t know, I’ve never have time to think about this. I guess I’ll stay home with Terra for a while, and try to figure out where I go from here.”

Embry nodded and unable to help himself, he pulled her out of her chair and into his arms. He rubbed her back and kissed her softly, she was hurting worse than he had ever seen. He had promised her that she would never be hurt, never be afraid with him around, but this was breaking his promise to her.

“I’m so sorry, Hailey,” whispered Embry, tucking her head under his chin and letting her cry against his chest. “But we’ll make it work, I promise.”

~`~

Love is new.

A new job, a new baby, a new home, new friends and family. It’s new disappointments and new joys, new life and adventures.

~`~

Hailey picked up Carli and held her on her hip, they spent all of their days together. Carli went to work with her in Port Angeles every day, along with Rachel and her daughter Billie. They worked together at the courthouse, Rachel as a public defender and Hailey as a social worker.

Together they were helping those who didn’t have a voice.

“Have you looked over the Michaels case yet?” asked Hailey as she rocked Carli in her arms.

“Yes,” said Rachel as she shuffled through the files on her desk, Hailey had her own office, but she and Rachel were able to help each other out better when they shared an office. “That girl needs to get out of there.”

“I have a warrant, but finding an officer has been impossible today,” Hailey told her, as she reached for the phone. “I should call Charlie or Seth, but it’s just outside of the Forks department jurisdiction.”

“Go to Seth, he’s more likely to side with you than Charlie,” said Rachel as Hailey started dialing the Forks police station. She cuddled Carli against her chest as she waited for someone to pick up the phone on the other line.

“What is going on in the area?” said Hailey angrily as she slammed the phone back down on the receiver. She stood up and put Carli on her hip again as she started pacing in the tiny office. “Why will no one pick up their phone?”

Billie attached herself to her leg and let Hailey drag her along as she paced. She needed to get Lacsey Michaels out of her parent’s house, she had proper reasoning, with several police reports reporting poor living conditions and lack of proper resources.

“Did you try texting him?” asked Rachel, not even bothering to look up from the files on her desk.

“What if we just go and pick her up?” asked Hailey, as she set down Carli and stepped out of Billie’s arms. “See if Embry and Paul will come with us?”

“Just text Seth to meet you down the road from the house and I’ll take Carli home with me,” said Rachel, getting to her feet. She packed up her bag and bent down to pick up Billie, before going to the door.

Hailey grabbed her bag and her case file before walking out the door with Rachel. The pair of them headed to the parking lot, and Hailey handed over Carli before she texted Seth.

Less than hour later, she and Seth were walking up the Michaels’ driveway with Seth leading the way. Hailey was used to this, she had followed after police officers for the last few years, her job was to put children in homes that were better for them, and that included taking them out of the bad ones.

“How old is she?” asked Seth, as they stood outside the front door.

“Five, she’s a few months older than Terra,” Hailey told him, as he reached up and knocked on the door. After a minute, he knocked again, and when there was no answer, he tried the doorknob.

It was dark and Hailey held her breath as the smell hit her as they walked into the front room. Hailey tried not to touch anything as they slowly walked through the house, each room was worse than the one before, and the smell, it was the worst thing she had ever smelled.

“Don’t come any closer,” said Seth, holding his hand out to her. Hailey stopped in the doorway of the bedroom, it was unusually warm and damp, and the smell was even worse if possible. “We shouldn’t be here Hailey.”

“Who are you?”

Hailey turned her head and looked down, just peeking out from behind a door, stood Terra. Hailey dropped down to the ground as the little girl slowly peeked out from the door and stepped forward. She looked just like Terra to the point that Hailey felt the need to call Embry and have him put her on the phone.

“I’m Hailey Call, I’m here to help you,” Hailey told the little girl, her dark eyes blinked up at her. “Can you tell me your name?”

“I’m Lacsey,” she said quietly, and Hailey nodded and smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you Lacsey,” said Hailey as behind her Seth started talking into his walkie-talkie. She recognized a few of the codes, but now she didn’t even want to think about what he was calling in.

“What about mommy and daddy?”

Hailey turned her head and looked up at Seth, who just shook his head at her. “We’ll come back for them later,” Hailey told her as she held out her hand for her to take.

Lacsey nodded and took Hailey’s hand, letting Hailey led the way back out of the house and to Seth’s patrol car.

She was doing her small part in the world, even if it was just getting a kid out of a bad home.

~`~

Love is fostering.

Fostering care, fostering love, fostering children.

~`~

Embry stared at Hailey, then looked in at the two way mirror, the little girl, Lacsey Michaels, who Hailey and Seth had saved sat with Charlie in the interrogation room. She had matted dark hair and dark eyes, she had a narrow nose and full lips, she looked just like Terra.

It was almost unsettling.

“What’s the plan from here?” asked Embry, as Hailey nervously twisted her wedding band. “Are we taking her in for the night, or is she going somewhere else?”

“I don’t know,” said Hailey, turning to look up at him. “That’s why I texted you.”

“She looks scared,” said Embry, as he looked back at Lacsey, she was tiny next to Charlie. “Like when I first met you.”

Embry stared at Lacsey, she had the same fear in her features as Hailey did in her own, back when she was eighteen. He felt his stomach twist uncomfortably and he turned to look over at Hailey, she was reflecting Lacsey’s fear, even now.

“It’s already bath night,” said Hailey softly, Embry could hear the pleading in her voice. He could already see Lacsey sitting at the kitchen table, right in between Carli and Terra, he could see her playing in the garage with Mackenzie, and he could see her curled up at the end of his and Hailey’s bed, sleeping curled up with Carli and Terra.

“Sam and Emily have the girls,” said Embry, and Hailey sighed. Whenever they brought a kid in, they left the girls with his mother, at least for the first night. Sam and Emily would take the kids, but it always put them in debt for when they needed a babysitter.

“I’ll take the risk.”

Embry smiled and reached forward, cupping the back of Hailey’s neck with his hand and pulling her mouth to his. He loved her, her passion, her desires, her need to make the world a better place, even if it was for one little kid.

“I’ll text Sam, you talk Charlie into releasing Lacsey into our custody,” said Embry and Hailey smiled up at him before kissing his cheek and opening the door to the interrogation room.

Embry texted Sam, letting him know the situation, before looking back into the tiny room. Lacsey had climbed up into Hailey’s lap while she talked to Charlie, already comfortable there.

The first time that Hailey had brought a kid home with her, had been right after she got her new job with the state. She had brought home a fourteen year old boy named Jeffery, who stayed with them for six weeks while Hailey worked to get him placed with his grandparents. He had been a nice kid, but Embry had been nervous to leave Terra alone in the same room with him. It had been irrational, he knew that, but Terra was his little girl and he didn’t know Jeffery.

It got easier the next time and every time after to bring someone new into their home. They had had teenagers from a hundred different backgrounds, who had stayed for weeks and even a few months, and they had had babies who were put with them for a night or even a few hours. They had a guest bedroom with two twin beds and a crib just in case they got a late night visitor.

“Lacsey,” said Hailey as the pair of them walked out of the interrogation room behind Charlie. “This is my husband Embry, he’s very excited for you to come home with us.”

Embry looked down at Lacsey, she looked worse up close than when he had seen her across the window. She was pretty, but definitely in need of a good bath, and clothes that fit her, and a visit from Leah to do something for her hair.

He looked up from Lacsey to Hailey and knew that they weren’t just bringing Lacsey home for the night, or the week, or even the month.

They weren’t just going to be her foster parents.

~`~

Love is burning.

Slow and low, hot and fiery, calm and angry. Love can be both, it can be hot and cold, it can hurt, and it can heal.

It burns, simmers under the heavy and the light. It brings everything together.

~`~

Hailey stood in the doorway of Terra’s bedroom.

Terra and Carli and Lacsey were all curled up around each other, the three of them fell into each other faster than either Hailey or Embry expected. She smiled as she watched them from her vantage point, before flipping off the bedroom light and heading downstairs.

“I vote that we just let them all sleep together tonight,” Hailey told Embry as she sat down on the couch beside him. He was just wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else, not that she would ever mind that. “I’ll fight them on it tomorrow night.”

“Come here,” said Embry, holding his arms out to her. Hailey crawled onto his lap and kissed him softly as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and put her hands up into his hair, pulling him closer to her.

She sighed when he pulled her shirt off and unhooked her bra, throwing it across the room. She would pick it up later, or he would, as long as the girls didn’t question about her clothes all over the house.

This was reminding her of the early days of their relationship, back when they would sneak away to have sex at any given moment. Back when they didn’t have any responsibilities, no jobs or children to look after.

“Do you want to go out back?” whispered Embry as he pushed her hair out of her face, before kissing her forehead. “Just for old time’s sake?”

Hailey smiled and kissed him, crawling out from underneath him and pulling on the t-shirt he had discarded before she had come downstairs. She held her hand out to him and they snuck outside together, hand in hand.

The smoke felt good in her lungs as they passed the joint back and forth to each other. It had been too long since she had last taken part in this tradition. Embry smoked still on the regular, but Hailey was almost always on call. She missed this, missed this part of their relationship.

“Do you remember the first time we smoked together?” asked Embry as he passed the joint back to her. “I’m still amazed you just went along with it.”

“Embry,” sighed Hailey, smiling up at him as she began to feel the familiar warm buzz behind her eyes. “Of course I do. That’s when everything started to change for the better.”

Hailey took a drag and let the smoke out slowly before leaning forward and kissing Embry. He had changed her life for the better, and being with him made everything easier to swallow. She climbed up into his lap, and kissed him as he rocked their porch swing.

“I want to adopt Lacsey,” whispered Embry, as he kissed her neck softly. “I want to have another baby too, but I know you don’t want to get pregnant again.”

Hailey moaned softly as his lips moved along her shoulders and she closed her eyes as his hands moved up her shirt. She giggled as he palmed her breasts, his hands warm and calloused just as she was used too, just as she loved.

“Have I told you that I miss this?” Hailey asked later as they cuddled on the couch, both of them naked, Embry still on top of her. “I miss having sex like this, getting high with you, having fun like we used too.”

“We’re parents now,” said Embry and Hailey sighed, “we only get to have fun while they’re away or sleeping. You have a job that’s always taking the most of you and I’m part owner in the garage with Jake and Quil. We have our responsibilities.”

“Let’s do this at least once a month then,” said Hailey as he pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead again. “Get really high and have fun like we used too. Forget our responsibilities for just a night.”

Embry smiled at her and Hailey wrapped her arms around his neck, everything still felt warm and fuzzy.

“I want to adopt Lacsey also,” whispered Hailey as Embry climbed off of her and pulled his shorts on. “I wanted to since I saw the two of you together cooking in the kitchen that first night.”

She sat up as Embry picked up her clothes and threw them to her. She pulled her underwear on and her tank-top, before Embry picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

“They’ll be up in four hours Hailey,” said Embry as he carried her up to their bedroom, answering her complaint before she gave it. Hailey rolled her eyes and giggled when he threw her down on their bed. He climbed in with her and kissed her, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I’ll get the paperwork started tomorrow,” Hailey told him, as he ran his fingers through her hair. “But we won’t have anyone fighting against us.”

Embry nodded and Hailey kissed him, she missed how they had been when they were teenagers, but she wouldn’t pass up how they were now for how they were then. They had been wild and impulsive, not thinking anything through, not thinking pass the next hour let alone day.

They had burned bright and hot, now they were coals, slow and warm and the center of the hearth.

~`~

Love is time.

Moving forward, never looking back; spinning faster and faster, out of control.

~`~

“Terra! Lacsey! Carli!” called Embry from the kitchen, “we’re going to be late!”

Carli was the first one down the stairs, it was crazy to him that his baby girl was already thirteen. She was his wild child, so much like him that it almost scared him. She was wild at heart, loving and kind, but just as crazy, a troublemaker with Hailey’s angel smile.

Carli knew how to get out of trouble with just a smile and an innocent blink of her eyes, Hailey’s blue eyes. She had him wrapped around her fingers long before she was even born.

“Tea and Lace already left, dad,” said Carli as she bounced in front of him. “Harry came for Terra and Lacsey ran off with Mark and Kenzie earlier.”

Embry nodded and picked up the bags Hailey had packed up earlier. She and Seth had left early in the morning to go out on an emergency run, leaving Embry to make sure the girls came to the council meeting that night.

“Well then it looks like it’s just me and you, kiddo,” said Embry as he wrapped his arm her shoulders. Carli smiled up at him and he couldn’t help but think about how lucky he was to have his three beautiful daughters.

“Can we take the bikes? Kenzie and I just finished putting the new gas line on the ‘95 Ducati yesterday, dad,” asked Carli, batting her blue eyes up at him. Embry unwrapped his arm from around her and shook his head, she really did have wrapped around her fingers.

“I guess,” said Embry in a teasing tone, “but if you get hurt, then I didn’t say yes.”

Carli nodded and smiled wide up at him, it almost annoyed him how well she had him trained. She was just like Hailey in that way.

They walked out into the garage, Embry following behind Carli. He drove one of the bikes a few hundred feet behind her, far enough away that she had her space, but close enough that he could catch up before she got hurt if something went wrong.

Carli was a natural on the bikes, unlike Lacsey and Terra who were too afraid to get on without Embry at the helm. She also knew how to build them, which Embry would admit he was more proud of that then how well she rode. He made sure to teach all of his daughters the basics, change the oil, change a flat tire, check the fluids, how to replace an engine and transmission. Just the basics.

Carli was the only one who was interested in more, she loved to hang out in the garage with Embry, Jacob, and Quil. She and Mackenzie always came around when they were having a bad day or just needed some alone time.

Mackenzie was hanging out more and more since her brothers, Max and Marcus had phased. And Marcus had started to hang around their house more and more since he phased and imprinted on Lacsey.

He wasn’t too happy about that, Marcus was a good kid, but Lacsey was his oldest. He had the same issue with Harry and Terra, who had been dating since before Harry phased and imprinted on her.

They parked the bikes at the top of the hill, and Embry brought over the grocery bags to the table that had been set up for the food. He watched as Carli went over to Billie, Riley, and Collie, the four of them and Harry’s younger brother Harley were all the same age, and they were all pretty tight knit, at least for now. He had learned quickly through watching Lacsey and Terra that being thirteen was much harder than he remembered.

But then again, he wasn’t a girl.

He looked around the clearing for his other two daughters and found Lacsey and Marcus sitting together on the ground with Mackenzie, Johnny, and Kati. Terra and Harry were standing over by the tree line, talking with James and Leila. Embry loved how close everyone’s kids were, how they all got along and were always making plans to hang out together. Even on school nights, he and Hailey weren’t opposed to having some of the kids over for movie nights and study parties.

Mostly it was up to him, Hailey’s job sometimes took her across the state to pick up kids and bring them to family or foster parents in the district that she represented.

“Embry!” called a voice behind him, and he turned his head to see Hailey and Seth walking towards him. Seth walked pass him to Cali and Embry wrapped his arms around Hailey’s waist as she walked up to him.

“Hey,” said Embry, before he leaned down and kissed Hailey’s cheek. “How did it go today?”

Hailey sighed and Embry lead her over to a bench. “After driving for about three hours, we finally got to the house, only to find it abandoned. Not even a sign that someone had been in there, let alone signs of abuse. We talked to the local police and they’re going to add it to their patrols, and keep an eye out for the boy that fits the description. But eight hours that I could’ve spent with you and the girls today.”

Embry wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He knew that she didn’t really mean that the time she had spent working was wasted, but he also knew that she felt like she was spending too much time away from the four of them.

“You didn’t miss much today,” Embry told her, “we went for a run on the beach, then Terra went to her dance class, Lacsey to therapy, and Carli to the garage. Then Lace and Tea snuck off with their boys.”

Hailey sighed again and Embry knew that she would’ve wanted to be with them, to run on the beach, drop Terra off at the Fuller’s, take Lacsey to therapy, even sit in the garage while Carli and Embry worked. But she was doing more right in the world than any of them.

“Come on Con-Air!”

Embry and Hailey both turned their heads to the tree line, where Raymond, Max, and Hannah were all walking out of the woods. Following behind them were Chris and the newest member of the Pack and his younger brother, Connor.

He had been scared that Terra or Carli would someday phased, especially after he got word that Hannah had. But Terra never phased and he let himself relax into the thought that his girls were safe.

Except from imprinting.

“Hey mom,” said Carli as she came over and sat on Embry’s knee and leaned over to kiss Hailey’s cheek. “I missed you today.”

Embry knew that this was the time when he needed to excuse himself, Hailey was the secret keeper in their house. Embry was the problem solver, he was the one who always got yelled out and always smoothed over the fights.

Then he got high with Hailey when she got home later.

Embry stood back and smiled, everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves, even Connor who he knew was going through the worst part of joining the Pack. The first few weeks after phasing was the hardest, the sudden rush of emotions, the secrets that you couldn’t share, and the constant fear for everyone you knew.

And that wasn’t even including the actual Pack stuff.

“Connor! Connor no!”

~`~

Love is scary.

~`~

Hailey took a long pull on the joint that Embry had pushed into her hand as she paced outside of her Aunt Sue's house. She wasn’t okay, this wasn’t okay at all.

Connor and Carli, her baby girl and her cousin’s son.

“You can put that out and come in, or you can keep pacing out here,” yelled Aunt Sue from her front door. Hailey stopped and took another long pull, feeling the familiar buzz behind her eyes that she loved.

She needed Embry, but he was home with the girls on lockdown. The only reason she wasn’t with them was because she ran, she had to get away from it all.

“I’m sorry,” Hailey told her as she tapped off the ash and put out the weed. She left the joint on the porch rail and walked into the house, following Aunt Sue into the kitchen. “I just can’t…I can’t…it’s too much.”

Aunt Sue turned around and faced Hailey, Seth had her eyes, Leah her cheekbones and nose, and Rose her determination. Hailey had her smile, at least that’s what her mother had once told her.

“Your mother was adopted Hailey,” said Aunt Sue as the pair of them sat down at the kitchen table. Aunt Sue handed Hailey a cup of tea and she felt herself calm down. “It’s one of those stories I never thought I would ever tell you.”

Hailey nodded and waited, even years after moving in and leaving Aunt Sue’s house, she knew to wait and listen.

“When I was little, a family moved in next door to us, they had daughter who was a few years older than me and your Aunt Sarah, she used to babysit us and my parents got along really well with hers. She was a nice girl, funny and smart, she got accepted into so many colleges that her parents threw her a party just for her to choose a school,” explained Aunt Sue, before she took a sip of her tea. Hailey stared down at her cup and bit her lip to keep from saying anything.

“She found out that she was pregnant a few days before she was supposed to leave for school, and she took a gap year to have Evelynn.” Hailey looked up at the mention of her mother’s name, and found Aunt Sue staring out the window behind Hailey. “She wanted to give her up for adoption, and my parents offered to take her.”

Hailey nodded and wiped at her eyes, even years later, her mother was full of surprises.

“Evelynn was always my baby sister,” said Aunt Sue, meeting Hailey’s eyes. Brown into blue. “And I want you to know that you will always be my niece and that I love you and miss your mother so much.”

Hailey sniffled and picked up her tea, drinking it as quickly as she could for something to do.

“Connor and Carli will be happy, just like Terra and Harry, and Lacsey and Marcus someday,” said Aunt Sue, reaching out a hand to Hailey.

She had been so strong for so long, so scared and so hurt, she was tired of being afraid.

“Everyone else knew,” said Hailey, squeezing her mug tightly, “Leah, Seth, and Rose? Emily?”

“We let you out of our sight and lost you.”

Hailey closed her eyes and just tried to focus on breathing, she just wanted everything to go back as it was a few hours ago. “I need to go home.”

The air was cool and crisp and helped clear her head as she ran. The sand was dark and damp under her bare feet. It was dark outside, the only light the few pinpricks of light coming through the clouds.

“Ow! Fuck!” yelled Hailey as she tripped and fell into the sand, she felt her back get wet as she fell into the surf.

“They’re sleeping in the living room,” said Embry as she crawled into his arms. “It took two different _Little Women_ adaptations for them to fall asleep.”

Hailey sighed and tucked her face into Embry’s shoulder. She kissed his neck as she closed her eyes. She had three little women of her own, it was what Uncle Harry used to say about Hailey, Emily, and Leah in the summers they spent together. Seth was their Laurie, and now they had Rose to be their Amy.

Emily would always be Meg, Leah was Jo, which meant that Hailey was Beth, and they all fell into their places.

“Embry,” whispered Hailey, opening her eyes and looking up at him. He brushed her hair out of her face and smiled at her. “Terra is Meg, Lacsey is Jo, and Carli is Amy. We don’t have a Beth.”

“You told me once that you were Beth,” said Embry, sitting up and pulling her onto his lap. “And considering the fact we never see you, because you’re always with other children, it all works out.”

Hailey nodded, she understood Embry’s frustrations. She missed him during the week, she missed her daughters and the life they had. She wanted to be in their lives, wanted to be there for all the fights, all of the sadness and all of the anger, all of the tears and all of the pain. Embry was the one who solved all of the problems, who knew everything about their daughters, about their life.

“I need to quit my job.”

It was silent except for the crashing of the waves and the beating of their hearts. Hailey had been thinking about stepping down for a while, taking on less cases and focusing on the ones she had at hand. Eight hours, with six in the car, for nothing, when she could’ve spent it with her family wasn’t worth it.

“Is that what you want to do?”

Hailey looked up at him, and let herself feel small. She wanted to be with her daughters, she wanted to be with Embry.

“No,” Hailey told him, tucking her head under his chin and feeling his hand on her back, rubbing along her spine. “But I can’t keep going like this. Terra and Lacsey are going to be Juniors, Carli just got imprinted on by Connor, they’re growing up in front of me and I’m missing it.”

“Hailey no one is holding your job against you,” said Embry and Hailey felt tears prickle at the corners of her eyes. “I would’ve told you if we were.”

She knew it was a joke, but she could hear the truth behind his words.

“I think I still need to quit my job, Embry.”

They would be fine, they had more than enough in their savings, and her job didn’t pay that much anyways. She could help Embry’s mom with her gardening, and she could help Billy with getting around the reservation.

“Rachel told me that the school was looking for a new cross country coach.”

~`~

Love is happiness.

Bright and warm and kind.

Sunshine and joy and home.

Love is home.

~`~

Embry stared through the window of the hospital nursery.

He was too young to be a grandfather. Terra was only sixteen when she found out that she was pregnant, now she had twins at seventeen. Now she had Adam and Aria. She was living over the Fuller’s garage in a little apartment with Harry and her babies.

He didn’t like it, she was his first baby. His little girl who was too young to be a mother.

“I can’t believe she really is Meg.”

Embry turned his head and looked down at Lacsey, she was four months older than Terra, and had been five when she came into their lives, seven when they officially adopted her. She was a smart girl, determined and stubborn and funny. She was more like Hailey than him, but he fought more for her than he ever fought for Hailey.

Hailey and him fell into place together, they never had to fight each other or anyone to be together.

They fought the state for Lacsey and won.

“Your mom loves that story,” said Embry, because if there was one thing that he knew, Hailey loved watching _Little Women_ over and over again. She had wanted to name Carli, Josephine originally, but Embry compromised on giving her the middle name Elizabeth. “But that doesn’t mean that we live in that life, Lace.”

“Carli is such an Amy though,” said Lacsey with a smile, and Embry nodded, she was right.

“Does that mean that I’m Amy?” asked Embry, as they all knew that Carli was just like him.

“We can’t all by Jo like me and mom,” said Lacsey with a laugh and Embry smiled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Your mom is Beth.”

“I miss Tea being home,” said Lacsey, wrapping her arms around him and putting her face into his chest. Embry held her close and rubbed her back, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “It’s not the same, daddy.”

Embry nodded and put his hand under her chin, making her look up at him. He gently wiped away her tears, like when she used to come crying to him after a nightmare. Out of his three daughters, Lacsey was definitely the most emotional, even more than Terra while her hormones were going crazy during her pregnancy. When she was eleven and started going through puberty, she had asked Embry and Hailey to take her to therapy, to help her figure out how she felt about her parent’s death and what was going on with her body.

“I know Ladybug,” said Embry, starting to feel his own resolve break as Lacsey’s bottom lip trembled. “But she’ll be around all the time.”

“Bu-but daddy,” hiccupped Lacsey, putting her face back into his chest. Embry sighed, knowing that she was too upset to do anything more than to rub her back and hold her right now. “It won’t be the sa-same.”

Embry scooped up Lacsey into his arms and walked over to the chairs by the wall. He cradled her in his arms and rubbed her back like she was a little kid again. He kissed her forehead and let her tuck her face into his shoulder.

“There you are,” said Hailey, walking around the corner and coming to sit in the chair beside them. “Oh Ladybug, it’s okay. Terra will be around all the time, Aria and Adam are going to need their aunties.”

Lacsey let out a high pitch cry and threw herself at Hailey, he already knew that the second he got away, he would get Dr. Stone on the phone to get Lacsey an extra session next week. This couldn’t wait another week.

“Let it all out, Ladybug, give it all to me,” said Hailey, as she held Lacsey close. Ever since Hailey had stepped down and went to part time, and taken over coaching the cross country team, she had been able to spend more time with the girls.

But it still didn’t stop Terra from getting pregnant at sixteen.

“Momma,” said Lacsey, pulling her face out of Hailey’s neck. “I don’t want everything to change again.”

“I know Ladybug,” said Hailey, cupping Lacsey’s face in her arms. “But we can’t help it. We grow and change and move forward. Someday you’ll move out of the house and decided to go to college, or get married, or have a family, and we’ll support you no matter what. Just please wait until you graduate high school before leaving us.”

Lacsey nodded and Hailey kissed her forehead, then Lacsey pulled her legs in and Embry made his escape. Part of him was happy that he had Dr. Stone on speed dial, but the other part of him was upset that it came to this point.

“Hello Dr. Stone, this is Embry Call, Lacsey has had a very hard week and I would like to schedule an extra appointment for her for Monday or Tuesday, if you are able to. You can call me back at this number, or Hailey on her cell, or leave a message on our home line. Thank you for all your help, and have a nice day,” Embry told the answering machine, hopefully he would get a call back later in the day.

Harry had called them early in the morning with the news that Terra had an emergency c-section and that she was okay, and the twins would be okay. At least it had been Hailey who answered the phone and not Embry, he probably would’ve killed Harry if it was him who answered the phone.

He walked back around the corner and found Hailey and Lacsey and Carli all together with Terra in a wheelchair beside them. They were his whole world, his whole home, the loves of his life.

~`~

Love is Adam and Aria.

Grandchildren. Two more children, two more hearts, two more little people to shape and love.

~`~

Hailey kissed Lacsey’s forehead and laid down beside her in her hospital bed. She reached out a hand and brushed her hair out of her face, before lacing her fingers through hers.

“Momma,” whispered Lacsey, opening her eyes. “Momma it hurts so much.”

“Shh,” whispered Hailey, leaning forward and pressing her forehead to Lacsey’s. “It’s okay baby girl, you’ll feel better soon.”

Lacsey nodded and pulled away just to pressed her face into Hailey’s neck. Hailey ran her fingers through her hair and down her back. It would take time for this to heal, it would take time for her to heal and grow.

Two of her daughters now had children young, but Lacsey was like her, unprepared.

“Ladybug,” whispered Hailey, lightly running a hand down her cheek and jaw, “it only gets harder from here. And I know you don’t want to hear that right now, but as hard as it is, the better it will be. You love Lucas and you love Marcus, and your dad and I will be there for you.”

“Momma,” whispered Lacsey and Hailey readied herself for the tears, Lacsey was the one who cried over spilled milk. “I love you and daddy so much. Thank you for taking me in.”

Hailey smiled and kissed the top of Lacsey’s head. “You were always meant for us, Lacsey. We wanted you the second we saw you.”

Lacsey nodded and Hailey felt her arms wrap tighter around her, she loved her just as much as she loved Terra or Carli, as any of her grandchildren. It had overwhelmed her when she was twenty and had just given birth to Terra, and again at twenty-three after having Carli, and once again at twenty-five, when she met Lacsey.

Love is overwhelming, but it brought her home, brought her to her children, brought her Embry.

“Where’s daddy?”

“Where he always is,” said Hailey, because they had their traditions. Hailey always went to their daughters, while Embry went to the nursery. He was their protector, had always been and always would be, it was what he promised Hailey just a few months after they met. “And Marcus is calling Kenzie.”

“I like her boyfriend,” said Lacsey, as she untucked her face from Hailey’s neck and put it on her shoulder. “He’s very nice.”

“I’ve heard the same from your sisters,” said Hailey, she had met Evander Masen, Mackenzie’s boyfriend when she had gone over to see Leah for a haircut. “He is a very nice and he adores Kenzie.”

Lacsey nodded and Hailey kissed her forehead, taking her hand and squeezing softly.

“How’s it going in here?” asked Marcus as he walked into the room. He came around the bed to Lacsey’s side and sat down in the seat there.

Lacsey turned her head and smiled, and Hailey felt the emotion of the room change. Lacsey let go of her hand and reached for Marcus. Hailey loved Lacsey, she was her daughter, one of her favorite people in the world, but Lacsey was better with Marcus. It had always been like that, ever since they brought Lacsey home, the pair of them fell into place together.

“Your dad is keeping an eye on Lucas,” said Marcus, taking Lacsey’s hand in both of his. “Everyone else is coming around this afternoon.”

“Kenzie won’t like that,” said Lacsey, turning away completely from Hailey. “You should call her back and tell her to come now.”

“She was at the garage, she’s probably dirty and greasy and needs to take a shower anyways,” said Marcus, and Lacsey sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Marcus,” said Lacsey annoyed and Hailey climbed out of the bed. “That doesn’t make it right.”

Hailey slipped out of the room and left them, walked down the familiar hallways, thinking about the first time she had been to the hospital. Back on her eighteenth birthday, back when she was angry and scared and so sure that she wasn’t supposed to be anywhere.

But she had come home, made it home safe and sound, back to where she wanted.

“Are we old enough to be grandparents to three kids?” asked Hailey as she tucked herself into Embry’s side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

“We’re thirty-eight years old with three grandchildren,” answered Embry, not actually answering her question. “Did we do something wrong?”

“They grew up too quick,” said Hailey, because that was the truth, plain and simple.

“But they’re happy,” said Embry and Hailey nodded, turning to look up at him. Embry ducked his head and Hailey smiled as he kissed her. Twenty years they had been together, twenty years, three daughters, and now three grandchildren later, they were still just as in love as they were then.

“Your right,” whispered Hailey, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth back to hers.

~`~

Love is Lucas.

Number three.

~`~

Hailey bounced Aria in her arms as she paced in front of Carli.

She didn’t know what to say, she had been furious with Terra, but now she was just disappointed. She should’ve seen the same patterns falling into place, but she thought that Carli would’ve been more responsible. At least Lacsey graduated and got married before she started having babies.

“I’m sorry momma,” said Carli, and Hailey felt her resolve waver. At least Carli was graduating in three months, she wasn’t sixteen like Terra had been.

Hailey sat down on the couch by Carli and let Aria crawl over into her lap. Out of all of her daughters, Carli was the most like Embry, she was stubborn and funny, with a trouble streak that she couldn’t break, but despite it all, she was a good girl. She was sweet and kind and she loved fiercely, she loved her sisters and her niece and nephew, she was a good girl, but she also made mistakes.

“Momma,” whispered Carli, and Hailey sighed, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

“Shh,” hushed Hailey as she ran her fingers through Carli’s curly hair. She used to keep it short, but slowly and surely, it had grown into a long tangled mess. “I know…I know. Don’t mistake this as me being okay with this news. I’m so disappointed in you Carli.”

“Momma…momma I’m sorry,” said Carli, wiping at her eyes. “I want to take it back, all of it.”

“Carli,” said Hailey in a warning tone, “you’ll get into more trouble for lying to me.”

Carli was quiet and Hailey sat back in her seat, letting Carli rest her head in her lap. She didn’t deserve this punishment, but she had to give Connor the proper respect, he would be dead right now if he had come with Carli.

At least he was older, he had a good job working at the diner and with Harry and Chris. He adored Carli, had since she was thirteen, since he first locked eyes with her at the bonfire more than four years ago.

And Carli was graduating in three months, she would be showing by then, but at least she wasn’t sixteen.

“Momma,” said Carli softly, looking up at Hailey with red rimmed eyes. “I love him and I want to have the baby.”

Hailey closed her eyes and played with Carli’s curls, she had Terra when she was twenty. She hadn’t told Embry until she finally came home from Washington D.C. after six months away, six months pregnant.

At least her daughters were better than her in that way.

She had been furious when she found out she was pregnant with Carli, she and Embry hadn’t talked about the possibility of another baby, even though they both wanted another. She loved her Terra, loved being a mother, but she hated having another baby pushed on her.

“I know.”

~`~

Love is Elizabeth.

She brings the number to four.

~`~

“Daddy?”

Embry turned around and looked down at Terra. She had Adam on her hip and Aria asleep in a sling on her chest. She was too young to be a mother, but she was happy with Adam and Aria, with Harry.

“Hey Teapot,” said Embry, reaching out to take Adam from her, he put him up on his shoulders just as he always liked. “Have you gone to see Carli?”

“Mom’s with her,” said Terra as they turned to look through the window into the nursery. “She’s sleeping.”

Carli had named her daughter Elizabeth Tiffany, or Beth for short.

“And Lacsey?” asked Embry, thinking of his oldest. “I thought I saw her and Marcus earlier.”

“She’s exhausted, they had Lucas with them.”

Embry felt his heart swell. Lacsey was his first daughter to get married, she and Marcus had a quiet ceremony on the beach. Marcus had finally gotten the courage to tell Lacsey about the imprint, about all of their stories.

Just like Hailey, she took it better than he thought she would.

“The three of you grew up too quickly,” Embry told Terra as he felt Adam pull on his hair. “You shouldn’t be having babies this early.”

“Dad,” said Terra softly, not meeting his eyes, and instead looking down at Aria strapped against her chest. “Carli wanted to get pregnant, and so did Lacsey. They’re happy with this life.”

“And you?”

That was the real question, he could accepted his daughters wanting to have babies, wanting to get married, wanting to have lives that started and ended in the same place, but he couldn’t accept them being unhappy.

“I’ve always been Meg, of course I’m happy with my Daisy and Demi, and John Brooke,” said Terra, smiling up at him and meeting his eyes. “I don’t plan on another anytime soon, neither does Lacsey.”

Embry nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, holding her close.

“I love you kiddo,” Embry told her, as he ruffled her hair.

Embry turned his head at the sound of footsteps and looked up to see Lacsey with Lucas walking towards them. Terra stepped away from Embry to let Lacsey in between them.

“Hey Lace,” said Embry, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “How’s it going?”

“I’m so tired, but Lucas is a good kid, he’s started to even sleep for me and Marcus,” said Lacsey with a small sigh. “I don’t know where he gets the energy.”

Embry nodded and leaned down to kiss the top of her head, Adam tumbled off of his shoulders and Embry caught him in his arms.

“Dad!” yelled Terra, before covering her mouth at her outburst and looking down at Aria. “Be carefully.”

Embry rolled his eyes and handed Adam off to Lacsey, who gave him Lucas in turn, he cuddled him in his arms. “Terra, I would never hurt any of the kids, you have nothing to ever worry about.”

Terra nodded and Lacsey started giggling. Embry smiled, two years ago, when they had last been in this part of the hospital together, everything had been different. Now, Lacsey was happy and giggling, Terra was steady and calm, and Carli had a baby.

“I can’t believe we’re here again,” said Lacsey and Embry looked down at Lucas in his arms.

“She’ll be a great mother, Lacsey,” said Terra as she reached out a hand to play with Adam’s shaggy dark hair. “Carli’s helped me so much with Adam and Aria, and with Lucas also.”

Embry turned back to the nursery window and looked at his newest grandchild, Baby Beth, and felt his heart grow warm. This was better than when Terra or Carli were born or when he first met Lacsey, he felt a sense of calm wash over him as he stared at Beth’s sleeping form.

~`~

Love is Hailey.

~`~

Embry turned up the radio.

The garage was empty, Jacob was gone for the day and Quil was off, spending the day with Claire and their children. He liked being the only one in the garage, though he never minded when Carli joined him.

His daughters still had him wrapped around their fingers, now though he had eleven grandchildren. Terra and Lacsey had four each, and Carli had three. He still couldn’t believe that he and Hailey had three kids, let alone each of them had children now.

“ _The dawn is breaking, a light shining through, you're barely waking, and I'm tangled up in you, yeah_ ,” Embry sang to himself as he got started cleaning up the equipment he had used. “ _I'm open, you're closed, where I follow, you'll go, I worry I won't see your face, light up again_.”

He felt her arms wrap around his stomach before he heard her giggle. Embry smiled as he turned around and looked down at her, Hailey was still just as beautiful now as she was when he first met her.

“ _Even the best fall down sometimes, even the wrong words seem to rhyme, out of the doubt that fills my mind, I somehow find you and I collide_ ,” she sang to him, her voice still timid and soft even years later. Hailey had a beautiful voice, but he didn’t know she could sing until he had come home early one day and heard her singing Terra to sleep when she was a newborn.

Now his daughters all sang to their children, and Hailey sang to their grandchildren.

“ _I'm quiet you know, you make a first impression, I've found I'm scared to know, I'm always on your mind_ ,” whispered Embry as he pressed his forehead to hers and she swayed in his arms.

_I love you, I love you, I love you._


	2. Chapter 2

Carli stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom.

The stars that she and her sisters had stuck up there glowed in the darkness. She always loved the stars and stories behind them, she loved astronomy and she loved running. It was all that she had, the stars and what grounded her to Earth.

She heard a sound downstairs and knew that it was her parents. Her mother had ran away and her father had attempted to fix everything.

_Imprint._

She had heard that word before, but only in relation to baby ducks and their mothers.

Connor was _older_ than her!

Carli rolled over in her bed and screamed into her pillow. Nothing made sense anymore, a boy that she had known since she was born had kissed her. A boy that she was raised with, loved as a brother, had made it clear he wanted more.

She squeezed her eyes shut and kept her face in her pillow as her door squeaked open. She stayed curled up until she felt Terra’s hand on her back, then she allowed herself to relax.

“Carli,” whispered Terra, climbing up into bed with her and wrapping her arms around her. “It’s okay.”

It wasn’t though, how could anything be okay anymore.

“Carli,” whispered Lacsey, and she heard her pad lightly across the room and climb into her bed. She squeezed her eyes tighter and gripped her blanket tight. “Let’s go for a run.”

Carli nodded and they all climbed out of bed, it was easy to sneak out. It was easy to slip out of the house because their mom was tired and their dad was high.

Embry didn’t care where they went anyways, just as long as they came back again. Hailey never even knew that they were gone.

Carli didn’t even bother with her shoes, she took off running the second they got out of the house. She was the fastest of the three of them, Terra only ran to stay fit for her dancing, and Lacsey liked to run just for fun.

Carli ran because she wanted to fly.

“Carli wait!” yelled Terra once they finally made it to the beach, but she was already gone.

The sand felt familiar under her feet, the cool air felt nice on her warm skin, and the water felt like knives on her legs. Still she pushed forward.

She would run to the end of the beach if she could, she would keep running and running and running, until she couldn’t. She was just like her mother, she would run from every problem, run from every solution too.

“Carli!”

She didn’t even feel the ground when she hit it, her vision was blurry and nothing made sense anymore.

“Carli are you okay?”

“Why?” she asked, looking up at Terra and Lacsey, “why me?”

Lacsey was gentler than Terra, than Carli, but she wasn’t the best at comforting anyone. She felt things differently than anyone she knew, everything in her always seemed to bubble out. Terra was soft, she was warm and kind, but she wasn’t gentle to anyone except Harry.

“It’s okay,” whispered Terra, pulling Carli’s head into her lap. “Connor’s just an idiot.”

“At least he did something,” whispered Lacsey, as she pushed Carli’s hair off of her face and ran her hands over her arms, brushing off the sand. “Marcus hasn’t done anything more than hold my hand since we met.”

Carli nodded as Terra stroked her nose softly, brushing off the sand stuck there. “He shouldn’t have just kissed you like that though,” said Terra, an edge to her voice that Carli only heard when she wanted to say more than she could.

They didn’t like to keep secrets from each other, but they did keep some secrets from Lacsey. She wasn’t from their tribe, she thought the stories were just stories, she didn’t know how true they were.

Carli had seen the wolves before, her father and his friends Jacob and Quil were all wolves, but that had been so long ago. It had been back around the time when Lacsey had come to live with them.

“At least it wasn’t your first kiss,” offered Lacsey and Carli closed her eyes, trying keep herself from crying.

“Because who wants to admit that Jay Young was their first kiss?” asked Carli, as she heard Terra giggle.

“At least you’re not pregnant,” whispered Terra, and Carli opened her eyes.

Terra got their mother’s eyes, blue and bright and beautiful, while Carli got their father’s eyes, dull and brown. Terra was pretty like their mother, she was thin and small, unlike Carli who was chubby and tall, like their father. They each took after one of their parents, it just so happened the Terra was their mother and Carli was their father. Lacsey was the one who was a perfect combination of the two.

“Momma’s going to kill you,” said Carli, because if nothing else was true, that was. “She’s going to kill you then bring you back just so you can have the baby.”

“I haven’t told Harry either,” whispered Terra, and Carli reached out a hand to take Lacsey’s in her own, while she reached for Terra, and Terra took her other hand. For as long as they had known each other, been sisters, they had always come together for each other.

Their parents had always reminded them that they were supposed to be a family, that Lacsey was always their sister.

Terra and Carli had always known that.

“We’re with you,” said Lacsey and Carli was ready for the waterworks. Lacsey was so emotional, she felt emotions so much stronger than anyone they knew, but that didn’t make her any less than anyone else.

“Always,” agreed Carli, putting her head back down on Terra’s lap.

~`~

Love is new.

Changing and weird, quiet and soft, bright and beautiful.

Bold and adventurous.

New and scary and full of beginnings.

~`~

Connor sat in the surf, letting the water wash over him. The cold felt good against his overheated skin, it felt jarring and real in a way he couldn’t say.

He had kissed Carli Call.

He had _imprinted_ on Carli Call.

Connor had fucked up everything.

He had just phased for the first time a few days ago, he got into a fight with his sister Carolynn, and then suddenly he wasn’t himself. He still didn’t feel like himself.

His dad had been no help, Chief of police Seth Clearwater could only do so much. He was better at protecting the people in the tribe and Forks than explaining what was happening to his youngest son.

Connor climbed out of the water and started walking towards the diner. His family live in the little three bedroom apartment above the diner, with Connor sharing a room with his older brother Chris, and his little sisters, Carolynn and Collie sharing a room together.

He was sure that Collie would say the right thing, she always managed to say the right thing to him. Carolynn and him may have been closer in age, but Connor was much closer to Collie.

“You’re late for curfew.”

Connor stared at his mother, Cali, where she sat on the back steps. Her radio sat beside her, quieter than she ever kept it, and his father sat on her other side, their hands laced together. He wanted someone to love him like how his parents loved each other.

“I’m sorry,” said Connor as he sat down on the ground in front of them. His mother was barefoot in a pair of jeans and one of his father’s flannels, while his father was in a pair of shorts and nothing else, just like Connor. “I just don’t know what happened.”

“You imprinted,” said Seth, and Connor sighed, he didn’t even know what that meant. He had heard Chris and Hannah snap at each other in his head for the last few days and heard Harry and Marcus whine about Terra and Lacsey, but none of it made sense to him. None of it made sense to him. “It takes a while to wrap everything around your head, Connor.”

Connor knew that he was being serious, he rarely used any of their first names, usually favoring the nicknames he gave all of them.

He wanted to ask how it worked for his parents, but he already knew. His dad imprinted on his mother a few months after his brother Chris was born. They had fought and they had pushed and somehow they made everything work.

Then less than a year after they graduated, Connor was born and they were married.

Connor would be killed if the same thing happened to him.

“I just can’t stop thinking about her.”

“Connor,” said Cali softly, getting to her feet and picking up her radio. “Take a shower, go to bed, and everything will make a little more sense in the morning.”

“Are you sure?” asked Connor as she ran her fingers through his freshly buzzed down hair and leaned down to kiss his forehead. His mother was such a strong person and he hoped that he got even the smallest bit of her bravery, even a drop would be more than what he had currently.

“Yes,” said Cali, walking back up the steps and going through the back door. “Now do as I said!”

Connor sighed and fell back onto the ground, ignoring Seth’s laughter as he followed after Cali.

This was worse than anything Collie would’ve told him.

~`~

Love is scary.

A fear that never goes away, a fear that never slows, a fear that never strays.

She is a fear that never gets better.

~`~

Carli climbed into Terra’s bed and curled up beside her. She spent half of her time in the tiny apartment she shared with Harry and the rest of her time home with them.

“Are you sure there’s only one in there?” asked Carli as she rubbed her hands over Terra’s growing baby bump. She was getting bigger and bigger with each day, she was bigger than Claire during the end of her last two pregnancies.

“Yes,” said Terra, pushing Carli’s hand off of her stomach. “And I’m hungry, go get me something instead of bugging me.”

Carli rolled her eyes and put her hand back on Terra’s stomach. She was excited to be an auntie, to have a nephew or niece to love and care for. She was excited, even if it meant that Terra was going to move out, away from them.

“Connor’s down there,” whispered Carli, before turning to look up at Terra. “He never leaves except to work or go on patrols.”

Carli felt Terra run her fingers through her hair, then sigh. “Fine then, at least help me get up. If he’s going to be here, he can make me a snack.”

Carli climbed out of bed and helped Terra get to her feet. She took a second to get her center of balance and Carli couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Terra was once the best dancer in Rose’s dance classes, she was an amazing ballerina, but now she was just sixteen and pregnant.

Carli fell back down on Terra’s bed and took in a deep breath, just as the bedroom door opened again and in came Lacsey and Marcus. Carli sighed as Marcus threw himself down on Lacsey’s bed and Lacsey came to sit beside Carli.

“Is he still hanging around all the time?” asked Marcus as he picked up one of Lacsey’s stuff animals and held it against his chest. “I told him that it’s creepy.”

“He doesn’t ever leave,” said Lacsey as she laid down across Carli’s legs. “At least Harry leaves Terra alone.”

The unspoken ‘and you’ was loud and clear to Carli, but she knew that it wasn’t always Marcus who heard. Lacsey wasn’t always the most heard between the three of them, but she always got her point across.

“I can talk to him, or have Max say something,” offered Marcus and Carli sighed again. She curled up with Lacsey and watched as Marcus pet the stuff bear in his arms.

“It’s not that I don’t want him here,” said Carli, running her fingers through Lacsey’s braids, Mackenzie must’ve gotten her to sit down long enough to do them. “It’s just that I should have the opportunity to ask him to come over. Connor’s always been nice…he just never leaves now.”

“Momma and daddy don’t like it either,” said Lacsey and Carli nodded, she had told Connor that her parents didn’t like him constantly hanging around, but he didn’t care.

“Hey! Come down here!”

Lacsey climbed off of Carli and pulled her to her feet against her will, before the three of them headed downstairs, Marcus in the lead. They found Terra and Connor at the kitchen table with more food than Carli was sure anyone could eat, let alone make in an hour.

“Are you feeding an army?” asked Lacsey as she took her seat. Carli sat down between Lacsey and Connor, and accepted the plate that Connor passed her.

“Thank you,” said Carli, not bothering to meet his eyes. Her plate was mostly salad, with a proper portion of pasta. She didn’t need a huge plate, like the one Connor was making for himself.

“Should we save some for Embry and Hailey?” asked Marcus as he began making himself a plate.

“Yes,” said Carli, Terra, and Lacsey at the same time. It was Lacsey’s turn to make dinner, they all took turns on the nights that their parents worked late. Lacsey was the worst cook of the three of them.

Carli dug in and was thankful to have something to do with her hands. This was how she spent most of her time with Connor, she would hide from him then eat dinner or whatever he made for her. Growing up in the diner made him a better cook than Carli would ever be.

“This is delicious Connor,” said Terra between bites and Carli smiled as watched Terra eat. She was so messy now, always trying to shove as much food in her mouth as she could now. It was the complete opposite from how she used to be.

Pregnancy had changed her in a way that Carli almost didn’t recognize.

Carli tucked her foot underneath herself and took a bite of her food. It was good, she hadn’t realized that she had been hungry, but she only had a granola bars after her cross country practice.

“Thank you,” said Carli as she dried the dishes, Connor washed and rinse for her, while she dried and put them away. “For making dinner again.”

“It was no problem,” said Connor, handing her a pot to put away. “If I’m not doing it here, then I would’ve been at home, either in the diner or upstairs.”

She liked that home was just the diner for him, he and his siblings spent so much time in the kitchen downstairs that they called their apartment just the ‘upstairs’.

“Dad has late patrols tonight,” went on Connor, handing her a lid, “and mom is closing the diner, so Carolynn or me would’ve made dinner…or ate downstairs.”

Carli nodded as Connor turned off the tap and drained the sink. She handed him her hand towel as she put away the very last of the dishes. The kitchen was clean, dinner was put away, and now she had nothing to talk to Connor about.

“Do you want to go for a run?” Carli asked him, she had gone for a run that morning, then for practice, and she felt a familiar itch to go out again.

“It’s raining,” said Connor, and Carli listened to the quiet tapping of the rain on the windows and roof.

“If you change your mind, then come out,” Carli told him, before she slipped out the back door and started toward the beach.

The rain felt nice, it was warm for once and Carli felt like she could breathe. It didn’t take long for her to get into a rhythm, she knew how to pace herself, she just didn’t. She ran because it was the closest thing she had to flying.

She fell into the sand and he tumbled down after her, his lips found hers easily, quickly and she didn’t pull away, not this time.

“I’m in love with you,” whispered Connor, when he finally pulled his mouth away. He kissed her jaw and neck and bare shoulders, pushing the strap of her tank-top out of the way. Carli giggled and pulled his mouth back to hers, his lips were soft and warm against hers.

She liked it.

~`~

Love is kind.

Warm and sweet, kindness goes far. Favors and promises, the build into more and more. It’s the small things, the small favors, the small promises, the small questions asked.

Her love is giving and warm and kind.

~`~

Connor kissed Carli softly, holding her face in both of his hands and not letting her go at all. _He_ loved her, and he _loved_ her, and he loved _her_. She was all his and _he loved her_.

“Connor,” whispered Carli, her hands pushing his face away. He looked into her eyes, bright and brown and beautiful. Her eyes were beautiful, no one could tell him different. No one could call her dull or boring with him around. “We should go.”

Connor leaned down and kissed her again, she was right, they did need to get going. She put a hand on his chest and pushed him away as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He sat up and pulled her up with him, the blanket wrapped around them fell down and he touched her bare back.

“Babe,” whispered Connor, kissing her shoulder and pulling her closer. “Baby do we have too?”

“My sister just had twins,” said Carli and Connor knew that they had to go. If it was one of his sisters, then he wouldn’t be fighting against this. “We have to go, before Lacsey goes crazy.”

“What do you mean?” asked Connor, even though he was more than aware of Lacsey’s fluctuating emotions. “Get dressed and I’ll grab my car.”

“Thank you,” said Carli, giving him one last kiss before pulling away.

Connor pulled on his shorts and one of his t-shirts that ended up becoming Carli’s over the last few months. He left the house and ran down to the diner where his car was parked, along with Chris’ truck, and his dad’s old jeep.

He ran up to his room and found his keys on his bedside table.

“What are you in such a hurry for?” asked Collie from her bedroom doorway. “Going off to see Carli?”

Connor looked at her, he knew that she didn’t like how close he and Carli had been getting. Collie had been friends with Carli first, they were the same age, and they had always been close. Billie, Riley, Collie, Carli, and Harley were like a clique, they were closer than Connor would ever admit.

He had Hayden and Leila. Hayden was closer to his brothers, and Leila usually just hung out with Kati and Mackenzie and her sister Hannah.

“Terra had her baby, or twins I guess,” Connor told her as he twirled his key ring on his finger. “Her parents already left with Lacsey, we’re going over right now.”

“You were out running with her, weren’t you?”

Carli had been pretending to sleep while he hid in her closest when Hailey came in and told her about Terra. Connor had to admit that it was weird, Carli was an aunt now at fourteen.

“Yeah,” Connor told her, before he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, he messed up her hair just for the fun of it too. “Something like that.”

He left her and went down to his car, where Carli was waiting for him, leaning against the side of his car. He had no clue how she got there so quickly, but he stopped questioning how fast she could run a few months ago when they raced across the beach.

“I got tired of waiting,” she said with his favorite snarky smile. One day, this girl was going to be the death of him.

Connor smiled and unlocked the car before walking around to the driver’s side. Carli leaned over the center consul and kissed his cheek as he climbed into the car.

“Thank you,” she whispered as he started up the car and pulled out of his parking spot. He smiled and grinned at her before turning up the radio.

“Don’t worry about it,” Connor told her, as he pulled down the main road and headed towards the hospital. “You would do the same for me, right?”

“Of course,” said Carli, as she nervously played with her hair, it was growing to be more and more of a wild mess. Her curls were beautiful, but they always seemed to get in the way, no matter what she did with them.

Connor smiled and turned to the road, he loved to drive, but he also knew that he was named after his Uncle Connor who died in a car crash before his brother was born. He was the only one of his siblings named after someone who passed, Connor Harry, after his uncle and grandfather.

“I think it’s time to get my haircut,” said Carli as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. Connor parked his car and turned to look at Carli, he couldn’t imagine her with short hair, he liked her longer hair, it made him miss his own long hair.

“I like your hair as it is,” Connor told her, as he reached over and brushed her hair out of her face. “But if you want to get it cut, then I’m sure Aunt Leah would be more than happy too.”

Carli smiled at him, and he felt his heart skip a beat, she was perfect.

“Alright,” she said, with a soft smile, “let’s go see the babies.”

~`~

Love is secrets.

Kept close and guarded, shared between sisters, between friends, between family. Secrets are guarded with your life, guarded with love, and guarded with the heart.

She’s been guarding secrets for years and years and always will.

~`~

Carli stared up at her ceiling.

Sometimes, the insomnia seemed to get the best of her. She couldn’t sleep, it was too quiet, and she missed Terra.

“Carli,” whispered Lacsey, and Carli turned her head to look at her sister. Lacsey slipped in the door and climbed into bed with her. “I miss Terra, it’s too quiet.”

Carli tucked her head into Lacsey’s neck and closed her eyes, she felt her play with her hair. She was so tired, but something didn’t feel right about all of this. The house didn’t feel right without Terra, it was too quiet, too lonely without her.

Lacsey had shared a room with Terra since she came home, but Carli shared a wall with Terra. Every night before bed they would tap out a message on their shared wall. Jacob had taught them all Morse code when they were little kids.

“Me too,” whispered Carli, as Lacsey continued to play with her hair. “I wish she was here. It’s too quiet without her.”

Terra wasn’t loud, but she helped fill the empty space that sometimes occurred around Carli and Lacsey. They all got along, but usually it was Terra and Carli, or Terra and Lacsey, or all three of them. Rarely it was Lacsey and Carli together.

Except now that it was all it was.

“Marcus told me he doesn’t love me either,” whispered Lacsey, and Carli pulled her face away to look up at her.

She was ready for the waterworks, but they didn’t come. Carli reached up and touched her face softly, tracing the tear trails on her face. Lacsey came to her to tell her what happened, not for comfort.

“That’s a lie,” whispered Carli, pushing Lacsey’s hair out of her face. “You know that’s a lie.”

“I know,” whispered Lacsey and Carli tucked her head back under her chin. She wrapped her arms tighter around Lacsey and held her close.

“Meg has left us,” said Carli, because that was who they were missing, Terra was their Meg, she would always be the most mature and grown of the three of them. “I don’t think Jo and Amy ever spent time like this.”

“No,” whispered Lacsey, petting Carli’s hair, “but we do, and that’s all that matters.”

Carli nodded and smiled, she felt Lacsey kiss the top of her head, and slowly felt herself lull to sleep.

Carli opened her eyes, it was bright outside. Lacsey was gone, but she could hear noise from downstairs, talking or music, something was coming from the radio. She got up and walked downstairs, where she could hear Connor singing to himself.

“Morning sleepyhead,” said Connor as Carli walked into the kitchen, she smiled at him, he was wearing just a pair of shorts, she was wearing his shirt. “I made coffee.”

“Where’s Lacsey?” asked Carli as she poured herself a cup of coffee and went to Connor’s side. She tucked her head under his shoulder and sipped from her cup.

“She let me in and left right after,” Connor told her as he flipped a pancake. “Said something about needing to see Marcus.”

“He told her that he didn’t love her.”

Connor rolled his eyes and Carli sighed, it wasn’t fair to Lacsey that Marcus was being stupid about his feelings. It wasn’t fair to Marcus either, but Carli didn’t care about that, she cared about Lacsey.

“This is getting ridiculous,” said Connor, adding another pancake to the stack he had on a plate. “Harry and I have been scheming up a way to get him to admit his feelings, as if we all can’t hear his thoughts. He loves her more than anything else in the world.”

Carli pulled away from him and pulled herself up onto the kitchen counter, she sipped her coffee and stared at him. “What’s the plan?”

“I hate him!” screamed Lacsey as she ran into the kitchen, the door banging behind her. She ran into the living room and Carli heard her run upstairs, before coming back down. She had a shoebox in her arms. “I hate him so much!”

Carli stared at her sister as she stood in the middle of the kitchen, her box in her hands.

“He told me that we can’t be friends anymore,” said Lacsey, throwing the box to the ground and following suit. “He told me that he doesn’t love me and that I’m being crazy.”

“Lacsey,” said Connor, turning off the stovetop burner and walking over to her. Carli held her breath as Connor sat down on the floor in front of her. She was ready to comfort Lacsey if this all went wrong. “Marcus is being an idiot, anyone with a brain knows that you’re amazing. I had huge crush on you when we were kids, Marcus just needs to get his head out of his ass. Chris, Harry, and I have been telling him that for the last year.”

Lacsey nodded and moved forward, tucking herself into Connor’s arms.

Carli smiled as Connor hugged Lacsey, holding her close to his chest. Sometimes, she forgot that Connor had two younger sisters that he loved and adored.

Now, he had Lacsey too.

~`~

Love is bright.

She knows all of the stories of the stars. She loves them, she loves the stars and their stories and what the night sky can tell her.

He loves the stories, only as she tells them. He’ll listen to her ramble on and on and on about the stars, about the planets, and about the nighttime sky.

She is the stars, his moon, and his whole world.

~`~

Connor stared up at the stars.

Carli knew all of the stories, the legends, the myths, and every tale that there was to know about the stars and the planets. One day, she was going to share everything she knew with the world, even if it was only him.

“Hey,” whispered Carli, as she appeared in front of him, he turned his gaze to her and smiled.

Carli was just as beautiful now, as she was three years ago. Her long curly hair was spilling down her back and her body seemed to grow even more into her curves over the years. He couldn’t keep his eyes, or hands, off of her if he could help it.

“I’m sorry about Collie,” Connor told her as she straddled his hips. “Everything seems to be up in the air right now.”

“First Lacsey and Marcus, then Chris and Hannah, and now Carolynn and Tim-Tim,” said Carli as she rested her back against his legs. “Five babies in less than six months.”

Connor put his hand on her stomach, she had brought him out here for a reason, and the slight swell of her stomach _was_ the reason. She leaned down and kiss him, putting her hands up into his hair and pulling him close. He rolled them over and kissed her neck, letting his mouth move down to her chest.

“Momma’s angry, but it’ll be okay,” whispered Carli, as Connor pushed her shirt up over her head. He kissed the bare skin of her shoulders and pulled down her jeans. “We can get married after graduation.”

Connor sat up and pushed his shorts down his legs, he smiled as Carli opened her legs for him, what got them in this situation in the first place.

“Connor,” Carli moaned into his shoulder as he pushed forward. He kissed her softly, and moaned as he felt her legs wrap around his waist, pulling him closer. “Connor!”

He didn’t slow down, he wouldn’t until she told him to, but she never did. Everything felt better with Carli, her legs wrapped around his waist, her breath hot and moist as she panted and moaned his name, her body moving with every thrust of his hips.

A familiar warmth rippled through his body as he felt Carli’s body tighten around him. He kissed her neck, then her jaw and lips as she panted. Everything felt still and calm as he slowly pulled out of her, both of them letting out a small groan at the feeling.

“We’re having a baby,” whispered Connor, between kisses, he put his hand back on her stomach. Life that they had created was growing inside of her, he was going to be a father, they were having a baby. Carli was going to change and grow and show him how strong she really was.

“I know,” mumbled Carli, and Connor smiled as he put his hand between her legs, lazily moving his fingers on her clit. “Ah, Connor.”

Hearing his name from her lips, in such pleasure, with so much need, it made everything worth it. Their parents anger, her sisters disapproval, and his siblings shock, it was all worth it if he could have her.

He would always want her.

“Connor,” whispered Carli, as she ran her fingers through his hair, his head was resting on her stomach. “I love you.”

Connor looked up at her, her eyes were sleepy in an almost stoned way, something that he hadn’t seen in weeks. Not since her grandmother passed away. Not since her weed supply had ran out, though it was for the best since she found out she was pregnant last week.

They had decided that if this baby was a girl, then her middle name would be Tiffany.

Connor reached up and lightly traced her chin with his fingers, before he got up and leaned forward to kiss her. He pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her again. “I love you too, Baby.”

“Momma’s angry, but daddy told me that we can move into Nana Tiffany’s house if we can keep the garden up. I want to move there, but I don’t think I can sell weed like she did,” said Carli and Connor nodded, waiting for her to go on. “I just want to keep her memory alive and work at the garage and have a beautiful garden.”

“You can come work at the diner too,” offered Connor, they were missing Hannah as a waitress ever since the triplets were born.

He had three nephews from Chris and Hannah, and one niece from Carolynn and Tim-Tim. Four people in the world called him uncle, while three called Carli auntie.

“We’ll see,” said Carli, and it was more than Connor could hope, he had been trying for years to get her to come work with his family. Everything had become awkward between Carli and Collie after he had imprinted on her.

“I won’t let Chris yell at you,” promised Connor and Carli smiled up at him.

“I can handle Chris,” said Carli, which he knew and was more than proud of. “And I’ll beat him up if he says anything about Collie and Riley again.”

“We’ve had a few words,” Connor told her, as he rested his forehead against hers. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me sooner.”

Carli nodded and Connor turned to look up at the stars, their future look stunted to anyone who didn’t know them. Carli would be graduating in three months, she would be showing, but that didn’t matter to them.

They would get married, they would have this baby, and they would live a full and happy life.

~`~

Love is Elizabeth.

The first of three.

~`~

Carli opened her eyes.

Her body hurt, everything below her waist was numb, and everything above her waist was tired and in pain. Nine months, nine long months she had waited, she had watched and felt herself grow and change and become someone new and different.

“Momma,” whispered Carli, she reached out to her, she needed her.

“Oh baby girl,” said Hailey, climbing into her tiny hospital bed. Carli tucked her head into Hailey’s neck and let her wrap her arms around her. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

“Everything hurts,” Carli told her, feeling her voice break and crack, as if she was a teenage boy. She had screamed murder in the delivery room, all of the pain, all of her emotions had built and built and built up until she couldn’t take it anymore.

She had Connor on one side and Hailey on the other, but it still hadn’t felt like enough.

“I know,” whispered Hailey, as she ran her fingers through Carli’s hair. “Lacsey and Terra both said the same thing.”

Carli looked up at her, she never saw the similarities that they apparently had, they didn’t have the same eyes or face or body, only the same hair, and even that was a stretch. But now she saw something that she couldn’t deny, couldn’t say that she didn’t have.

“Momma,” whispered Carli, tucking her face back into her shoulder. “I’m Beth, aren’t I?”

“You have Beth now, baby girl,” said Hailey, kissing the top of her head. “You’ve always been my Amy.”

Carli nodded and closed her eyes, letting her mother hold her close and rub her back. She needed this, she was too young to be a mother, to have a baby of her own. The world had more to show her.

“Hailey?”

Carli squeezed her eyes tighter as she felt a familiar hand on her back. She was her father’s daughter, it’s what everyone told her. They were the same person, they had the same interests and the same loves and they looked exactly the same.

“She’s too young Embry,” whispered Hailey as Carli felt herself starting to drift off. “She shouldn’t have had this baby so early.”

Carli rolled over and opened her eyes, Connor’s arms snaked around her waist and she felt his lips on her jaw.

“Carli baby,” whispered Connor, and Carli curled into his chest. Her parent’s words kept repeating over and over again in her head, she was barely eighteen, but now she had a baby.

“Everything hurts,” said Carli, the numbness in her legs was spreading through her body.

“Shh,” whispered Connor, rubbing her back and tightening his grip on her. “I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

Carli nodded, and felt him kiss her forehead. They had to figure out something, do something about the baby, their Beth.

“We shouldn’t have had her,” whispered Carli, burring her face into his chest. “I’m too young for her, I’ll ruin everything.”

“Carli,” said Connor, letting go of her waist to hold her face in his and make her look up at him. “Carli, my love. You’ll be perfect, she loves you already, and we love her. Beth will be okay, and she needs you. I’ll be at your side the whole time, I promise you.”

Carli made herself meet his eyes and smiled as he kissed her, Connor was right, they could do it together.

~`~

Love is home.

Vines covering the windows and doors, growing thicker and taller with age. The paint peeling in the corners and along the sideboards. The cabinets and counters and floors creaky and in need of work.

A lot of work, but work well needed.

Home is for the people he loves.

~`~

Connor stood in the kitchen doorway. He would never be able to take his eyes off of Carli as she moved around the kitchen. Unlike him, she had the same grace moving around the kitchen as his youngest sister Collie.

Beth, their sweet little baby, slept in her arms while she stirred whatever she was making in the pot on the stovetop.

“Connor,” said Carli, not even bothering to look at him from her spot by the stove. “I’m pregnant.”

He had wanted to fix up the second bedroom, but she had made him put it off over the last two years. Chris and Harry and him all had a carpentry business together, where Chris kept the books, and Harry and him did all the work. Connor didn’t mind too much, he liked working with his hands, anything to keep him busy.

“At least we’re married now,” said Connor, as he walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, before tickling Beth’s chin and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “And you’re not in high school anymore.”

Carli rolled her eyes and stepped out of his arms, handing him Baby Beth. Connor tickled her sides and blew a raspberry into her cheek before turning back to Carli.

“Babe? What’s wrong?”

“Beth will only be two when this one is born,” said Carli, turning to him and putting a hand on her stomach. She had gone back to running the second she got the okay from her doctor, but the weight she had gained from Beth hung on her middle. “I was hoping to wait another year or two before we had another.”

“Carli,” said Connor softly, holding Beth down on his hip, “it’ll be okay, my parents had all of us within a few years, and we’re fine.”

Carli smiled and Connor matched her smile, before stepping forward again and kissing her cheek. She put a hand on his cheek and held his face, before she reached up on her tippytoes and kissed him.

“I love you Connor, and your family, but I just thought that we would wait for a while,” said Carli, stepping away and turning back to the pot on the stove. “Now can you taste this? I think I did something wrong.”

Connor handed back Beth and took a spoon out of the draw and dipped it into the pot.

“Just need some salt,” Connor told her, as he added the salt and stirred.

Carli kissed Beth’s forehead and walked over to her high chair, putting her down. Connor stood by the stove and watched her, he never understood why she always got down on herself about her looks. She was beautiful, with her long curly dark hair and light brown eyes, her soft jaw and sharp cheekbones, she had long legs and a short torso, and more curves than was good for her, which he loved.

“Carli,” said Connor, and she looked up at him. He thought about the second bedroom, the peeling paint and uneven floorboards. It needed the work, it needed some love and care and attention, he could have it done in a few weeks if she let him, have Beth moved in their even sooner. “Let’s have the baby.”

Carli rolled her eyes and pressed a hand to her stomach, he already knew what she was going to say. “As if we have a choice.”

~`~

Love is Nathan.

Two of three.

~`~

Carli held Nathan in her arms and kissed his forehead, already she felt different than when she had her Beth. It had taken her almost six months to feel like herself again. Six months she had spent not feeling okay, six months of trying to wrap her head around being a mother.

She had been too young, older than Terra when she had Aria and Adam, but too young herself to be a mother.

Beth had been easy though, she was quiet, she only cried when she was hungry and she was rarely fussy the rest of the time. She liked it when Carli took her running, she slept against her back and she let Carli fly again.

Nathan’s labor, his birth, had been easier. His pregnancy had been easier, no worry, no stress, no high school or exams or graduation to think about.

“How are you?” asked Connor, slipping into the tiny hospital room. Carli moved over so he could climb into bed with her. She smiled as he put Beth down in her lap.

“He’s sleeping,” she told him as Beth curled up in her lap and closed her eyes. “It was easier this time.”

“You seem happier than with Beth.”

Carli rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, she was tired, and everything hurt just like last time, but it was better than last time. She felt his lips against her neck and relaxed into his side, in less than six months, they would have two more nieces, and that was just her sisters. Another niece and nephew on Connor’s side.

“I didn’t realize how easy I had it with Beth,” whispered Carli as Connor wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close. “She was so quiet and good to us. Still, good to us.”

Connor kissed her shoulder and put a hand on Beth’s back, and they watched her relax even more from the warmth of his hand. Carli turned her head and kissed him, before feeling his lips drag down along her jaw and neck.

“Another baby,” whispered Connor as he kissed her neck again. “What are we going to do with ourselves?”

“I’ll garden and work in the garage and run like I always do,” Carli told him, as his lips brushed against her shoulder and collar bone. “You’ll build and cook and fight with your siblings.”

Connor smiled and Carli kissed his lips softly, she was a mother again. She had a second baby, a little boy that she and Connor had created. Already he looked like Connor.

“I don’t fight with them,” said Connor, rolling his eyes, “they fight with me.”

“Okay,” said Carli, looking down at Nathan in her arms. “And what would you describe the scene I walked in on between you and Chris two days ago? Or how you and Carolynn closed the diner the other day?”

“Alright, you got me.”

She smiled and ran her fingers over Nathan’s fine dark hair. Unlike her and her sisters, Connor and his siblings fought with one another to show love, except for Collie, she was the only one who didn’t raise her voice to any of her older siblings.

Collie was Connor’s favorite sibling, his favorite sister, and Carli’s favorite of his siblings also. She was the same age as Collie, and they had always been friends.

“So what should we give him for a middle name?” asked Connor and Carli giggled, anything to change the subject off of his family.

“I thought we decided to name him after daddy,” said Carli, leaning down and kissing the top of Nathan’s head. “Nathan Embry Clearwater?”

“Let’s wait a while before we have another,” said Connor and Carli looked up at him, she had wanted a bit of time before they had Nathan. “I don’t think I can handle another baby so quickly.”

“At least you weren’t the one who was pregnant,” Carli told him, and she felt his lips along her shoulders again. “I don’t think I can handle another baby myself.”

~`~

Love is sleep.

Comforting and calming, peace in the world, his arms wrapped around her. Home is their bed, the pair of them curled around one another, arms and legs tangled together. Their children asleep somewhere between them, on top of them, around them.

They never get to sleep anymore.

~`~

Connor opened his eyes.

His head was spinning, he didn’t know how his parents, his sisters, everyone in his family seemed to manage without sleep. He didn’t know how Chris was able to function with five kids, when Connor barely could with two.

“You need to stop sleeping on the couch,” said Carli as she sat down in his lap and brushed her fingers through his hair. “This is why you can’t sleep at night.”

“And the fact that Beth refuses to sleep before midnight has nothing to do with it?” asked Connor as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down on top of him. Carli giggled as she pressed her face into his neck.

“That is the excuse you’re going to use?” asked Carli, as she tucked herself under his chin. “Not that we had sex after she finally went to sleep?”

Connor rolled his eyes and ran his hand down her back, before he put a hand on her chin and made her lips meet his. She sighed softly against his mouth and he smiled as he let his hand move up her back and into her hair.

“I’m so tired, Carli,” said Connor later, as she pulled her shirt back on and he buttoned his jeans back up. “How are we going to do this?”

“Have another baby?” asked Carli as she rubbed her stomach, she was already five months along, and more than annoyed with her closet. “Connor, we don’t have much of a choice right now.”

“Why did I talk you into having another?” asked Connor, as he pulled her into his arms and laid his head back down on the couch. “I must have been out of my mind.”

“I told you that already,” said Carli with a smile, before she climbed out of his arms and got to her feet. She stepped away from him and he heard her go into the kitchen as small feet padded down the hallway towards him.

Connor turned his head to see Nathan peeking out from around the corner, his brown eyes, the same as Carli’s meeting his. Connor put his arm out and waited, Nathan ran up to him and climbed up into his lap.

He would be four a few months after the new baby was born.

“Hey buddy,” said Connor as Nathan settled on his stomach and curled up on his chest. He wrapped his arms around his son and held him close, he was excited to be a father again, but he was tired still. “Have a good nap?”

Nathan nodded and tucked himself into Connor’s chest, his little hands resting on his own chest.

Even now he managed to make his kids fall asleep just by putting them on his chest.

“I’ll make Beth dinner when she gets home,” said Carli, as she sat down beside him and handed him a bowl of some kind of soup. “I can take him if you need to sit up.”

“I’m fine,” Connor told her as he carefully sat up and readjusted Nathan on his chest. “Tomato soup again?”

“Cravings,” said Carli, rubbing her stomach, she smiled and Connor returned the gesture. Her cravings got stronger and weirder with each pregnancy, with Beth it had been peaches and pears, with Nathan it had been her mother’s blueberry crumble and anything cherry, and now it was tomato soup and cranberry juice. She couldn’t seem to get enough of either, and the tomato soup was starting to make him go crazy. “I’ll make something different tomorrow, I promise.”

“I close tomorrow night,” Connor told her, as Nathan opened his eyes and crawled over to Carli. He was a mama’s boy true and true, just like Connor. “Come to the diner and I’ll make you and the kids something good.”

Carli rubbed Nathan’s back and helped him sip from her spoon. Connor felt himself smile as he watched how well Carli cared for Nathan, she was an incredible mother, even if she didn’t think that she was good at it.

“If the new one is just as good as Beth and Nate, then I think we did everything right,” said Connor as Carli looked up at him. He watched as her cheeks started to turn red and she absentmindedly rubbed little circles into her stomach, right where the baby was kicking against her skin.

“At least one of us did something right,” said Carli, and Connor sat forward and grabbed her face with both of his hands.

“Carli,” said Connor softly, as he ran his thumb down her cheek and along her jaw. “You are a wonderful mother, Beth and Nate love you, and I love watching you with them.”

Carli leaned forward and kissed him, taking his hands and holding them in her own. “Baby number three will be just as perfect as the other two, I’m sure of it.”

~`~

Love is Laurie.

Number three, the last.

~`~

“Laurie Caitlyn Clearwater,” said Carli as she sat up in her hospital bed with Laurie tucked into her arms. Connor was curled up around her, with one of his arms wrapped around her waist and the other was holding her hand under Laurie’s head.

“Number three,” whispered Connor, his lips at her ear. “Another girl.”

Carli smiled and leaned down to kiss her head, before turning her head to kiss Connor.

She was happy, finally everything seemed to go right, a baby at the right time. Beth was six, Nathan would be four in a few months, and now they had baby Laurie.

She was done having children now. Her parents had stopped after her, but had adopted Lacsey when Carli was two. She and her sisters had seen kids come and go through her home, some of them had returned years later, but most they never saw again.

She didn’t want that for her own children.

She wanted her children to be as close as she was with her sisters, and she would do that by not having another child.

“Connor,” said Carli softly, as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “We’re not having any more children.”

She felt his arms stiffen around her and she smiled down at Laurie who looked up at her with her own eyes. Laurie was a cute baby already, with dark hair and dark eyes and a sweet smile. She was skinny, but that would change soon, they never had a baby who stayed skinny for long.

“Um,” said Connor and Carli touched Laurie’s little chin, while Laurie followed her finger.

“Connor we need to do something,” Carli told him as she turned her head and looked up at him. “I am not having another baby and you need to figure out something to make that happen.”

“I’ll talk to a doctor,” said Connor, and Carli smiled before leaning forward and kissing his cheek. She felt his arm wrap tighter around her waist as the door opened and in ran Beth and Nathan.

“Momma!” yelled Nathan as Beth climbed up into the bed and crawled onto her lap. She felt her heart grow warm as Nathan pulled himself up and fell on top of Beth.

“Hey babies,” said Carli, as she tucked Beth’s hair behind her ear and ruffled Nathan’s hair. “This is your new sister, Laurie.”

Nathan reached out his hand and touched Laurie’s little hand. Beth sat up and looked at her little sister, before turning to Carli. “Momma, she’s so little.”

Connor laughed and Carli smiled, it was two against three now, but they knew what they were doing now. It had just taken them seven years.

~`~

Love is Carli.

~`~

Connor turned up the radio and hummed to himself as he made breakfast for the family. Beth and Nathan and Carli were all asleep, but Laurie, his newest little girl was wide awake.

And demanding.

“Hey baby girl,” whispered Connor as he bounced her in his arms, she rarely cried for him. She was a good baby, their easiest by far, Carli had a hard time after having Beth, Nathan had been easier, but Laurie was the easiest. “Be good for daddy.”

He let her head rest against his shoulder as he made French Toast, Carli’s favorite and the diner’s recipe. He smiled as he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around his waist and a pair of lips press to his shoulder blades.

“You’ll wake the other two if you keep the radio up,” whispered Carli as she slipped away from him and turned off the radio.

“Are you going to sing to me then?” asked Connor as she took Laurie from him and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Or should I take the risk?”

Carli rolled her eyes and Connor smiled, she had a beautiful voice, even if she didn’t think so. That was every problem they ran into, Carli was perfect, but she didn’t seem to think so.

“ _Even the best fall down sometimes, even the stars refuse to shine, out of the back you fall in time, I somehow find you and I collide_ ,” sang Carli as she rocked Laurie in her arms. Already Connor could see her beginning to nod off against Carli’s chest, her voice was like a superpower when it came to comforting their babies. “ _Don't stop here, I lost my place, I'm close behind_.”

Connor flipped the French Toast and put the hash-browns on, listening to the quiet sizzle of the pan. He missed opening at the diner, but Collie had taken over openings after she had Ryan and Riley had Caspian and Cydney. He spent his mornings building houses and his nights closing the diner, he didn’t mind it. He got Saturdays off, his Sunday mornings were free, and his Monday and Wednesday nights were free.

He had plenty of time with his family, Carli took the kids to school and Laurie with her to the garage. Beth and Nathan already knew how to change oil in cars and the tires on motorcycles, they knew every tool to hand to Carli when she asked.

Their children were just like her, even if she didn’t see it.

“ _Even the best fall down sometimes, even the wrong words seem to rhyme, out of the doubt that fills your mind, you finally find you and I collide_ ,” sang Carli and Connor leaned forward to kiss her cheek as he heard a noise from above. Even in their few moments of peace, they didn’t get any peace. He didn’t know how his own parents managed four kids as young as they were.

Nathan appeared first in the kitchen doorway, his hair wild and sticking up in the back. Beth appeared right behind him, the braids that Carli had put in her hair last night unraveled already.

“Hey kiddos,” said Connor as Beth wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head against his hip. He smiled and patted her head, running his fingers through her soft silky locks.

Nathan went straight to Carli, as he always did. He practically worshipped the ground she walked on, he loved her just as much as she loved him.

“ _You finally find you and I collide_ ,” finished Connor as Carli stepped away from the counter and kissed him. “ _You finally find you and I collide_.”


End file.
